Published May 22, 2025
By EVA HANEGRAAFF
NORTH READING — Every fall, North Reading elementary schoolers put on their new jerseys and shin guards and grab their soccer balls and make their way to Ipswich River Park or Maguire Field to play in the highly anticipated youth soccer games. When these children grow up, some of them will even go on to join the high school team and continue building on their skills. For two North Reading seniors, this was their trajectory, however for them, their love of the sport inspired another passion as well.
Matthew Fleury and Max Gulino were struck by inspiration on a long car ride with Matthew’s father, Daniel, back in 2021, who told them about his experience growing up in Haiti and the three discussed the privilege they have had growing up in America that is inaccessible to children in Haiti.
“On a long car ride, on our way back from a tournament, we started telling stories and I kept telling the kids how good they have it here, with the nice soccer cleats,” Daniel explained.
Daniel told them about how kids would play barefoot sometimes, a concept that sparked Matthew and Max’s interest in a volunteer effort to donate to soccer programs in Haiti. It wasn’t until last year, though, that the boys revisited their idea and were able to get it off the ground. Max’s dad was a big help in the initial stages of the process, helping the boys create their website, Kicksoccer.org.
Kicksoccer.org was created, using an acronym that stands for Kids Into Caring for Kids (KICK). Through this website, money was donated to help with the shipping costs of donations as well as shipping boxes.
The second part of their plan had to do with setting up collection bins and tables at various soccer events, including the North Reading Youth Soccer Kickoff Classic, which is held in town annually during Labor Day weekend. This event was major in the boys’ efforts to get exposure for their mission to soccer families in town and collect donations.
“We had some bins, a table, and we also had a poster, and we got up early in the morning and we left it there for people to see and contribute to,” Daniel recalled. Max and Matthew also spent time sitting at the table, informing the community about their goal.
The boys conducted a similar drive at the Hornets boys’ varsity soccer game against Andover last Oct. 29. The equipment collected over these three drives, as well as equipment donated by North Reading parents made up the complete collection of items the boys donated.
The result was a resounding success.
“We had 200-plus jerseys, more than 50 pairs of cleats, and around 20 to 25 soccer balls, around 20 pairs of shin guards, and other materials such as pinnies, cones, and we even had a soccer net, — a full size soccer net!” Daniel said proudly.
Going into it though, they didn’t have a set goal in mind of what they hoped to collect. “We said to ourselves, whatever we get, we’ll just ship it and if we can only help five, 10 kids, it would still make a difference,” Daniel said.
After the collection was completed, the only part left for them to figure out was the shipping and distribution. The original goal was to have Max and Matthew accompany Daniel to Haiti to hand deliver all the items and hopefully get the opportunity to play soccer with the Haitian kids. This plan did not end up working out, as Daniel explained, “unfortunately, a week after I bought my tickets to go, which was right before Christmas, a plane got shot at in Haiti because of gang violence.” After this event, all flights to Haiti were canceled and Matthew and his father were forced to rethink the safety of going to Haiti in person to deliver the donations.
So they changed course and created a new plan. The boys and Daniel shipped the gear in U-Haul boxes with just Daniel following the equipment to Haiti to hand deliver it, without the boys. Daniel felt it was important for him to deliver the donations in person. “I wanted to make sure I was the one handing over the stuff to the kids, directly, not a third party,” he said.
On March 7, seven months after their equipment drives, Daniel made the trip. He went to five Haitian schools in three random neighborhoods. He brought with him, along with the gear, the varsity posters of the boys who contributed to the drive — Matthew, Max, and his brother Duncan. In his experience of donating the gear, Daniel was able to see the impact that this drive had on the kids who were used to playing soccer without the luxury of proper shoes or a nice net. He said, “I had goosebumps because I could see myself in them.”
In retrospect, service projects like this change one’s perspective. Daniel explains, “It’s no news to anybody that in the United States we have things in abundance to the point that we don’t truly appreciate what we have and, when we get out of the United States, we can see the outside world and how much they appreciate the little they have; it makes us grounded.”
Projects such as the one undertaken by Matthew and Max are inspiring, as they were able to make a world of difference for kids with the same passion as them, in a different part of the world. It would be ideal for these drives and volunteer efforts to happen again in the future, however Daniel explains that it is not that easy. “It’s kind of difficult because I don’t coach anymore so it would be hard for me to tap into those resources that helped me so much,” Daniel said. He also adds that the boys are going off to college now and will not have the time to devote to this project as they have had this past year. (Their website is not currently active.)
That said, Daniel still believes in the goal. “If I could keep this going myself, I would because it’s such a good cause because we are talking about a school that doesn’t even have a soccer ball to play with, yet they play every day with a makeshift soccer ball.”
“My hope is to find a sponsor who would see what we have done and be able to help us out,” Daniel said.
Daniel wanted to end by thanking the North Reading High School boys’ soccer team, both the players and their parents, for the amazing season the boys had this past year. “I think this drive is a testament to the great community we have in North Reading,” he said.