A Palo Alto High School senior has organized a soccer gear drive, which will run through April 7, to benefit children in South Africa and El Salvador.

Vedika Ahuja decided to start the drive because she attended middle school in South Africa, where she saw that kids did not have adequate soccer gear. The goal of the fundraiser is to provide children who are unable to purchase soccer equipment with cleats and uniforms in El Salvador and the Johannesburg region of South Africa.

“I’m doing this fundraiser because I lived in South Africa…and I frequently played with kids that didn’t have shoes on their feet,” Ahuja said.

Ahuja said that she wanted to do something for the people she met in South Africa and as a high school student, she has become more proactive in her goal to help them.

“As a middle schooler I didn’t do much to help their situation, but I know I can do more now, so I am,” Ahuja said.

Over the course of her time in South Africa, Ahuja developed relationships with the kids she played soccer with.

“It came to the point where I also just stopped wearing shoes while playing so I wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Ahuja said. “I became friends with some of the kids and definitely looked up to them for their soccer skills.”

Ahuja plans to distribute the gear she receives during a trip to South Africa she will take this summer.

“I’m planning to go to South Africa in the summer so I’ll bring as much as possible with me, and I’m also contacting other people in Palo Alto who are going to the World Cup there and are willing to give up some luggage space for the shoes,” Ahuja said.

Ahuja has the help of varsity girls’ soccer coach Ernesto Cruz, who has led similar drives in the past. Cruz will send whatever gear that cannot fit in Ahuja’s South Africa shipments to El Salvador.

Cruz, who grew up in El Salvador and came to the United States at the age of 19, has memories of his childhood that have given him personal reasons to participate in the event.

“I was one of those kids who didn’t have much,” Cruz said. “I got my first pair of shoes when I was twelve. And that’s because of soccer.”

Cruz said he was inspired as a young boy in El Salvador by a man who brought his town soccer gear.

“I remember it was an American guy that just showed up to our field, which was a piece of crap,” Cruz continued. “This guy showed up with AYSO uniforms and we were so happy. Those things make a huge difference.”

Cruz said that when he brings soccer gear to children, he tries to go to remote towns that normally do not receive much aid.

“When I go, I make sure I don’t go to the closest place,” Cruz said. “I go to where nobody goes. If you go to little towns and you go deep [into the countries], you find soccer fields and kids appear out of nowhere.”

Though Ahuja no longer plays soccer–she was injured in the ninth grade and eventually tore both of her anterior cruciate ligaments and her meniscus–she said the drive has allowed her to become involved in the sport again.

“I still love soccer, but I miss it, obviously,” Ahuja said. “I just want to be involved any way I can.”

Cruz explained the importance of giving soccer equipment to children in need.

“Kids see a soccer uniform and it’s just a very good experience,” Cruz said. “It’s a little thing, but it’s huge [for the kids].”

Students can bring slightly worn soccer cleats or sneakers and uniforms to collection bins outside the library and the main office until April 7.