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It started as a simple idea. A soldier told his family he'd like to bring soccer balls to Iraq so children could properly enjoy the game he loved. He never saw that dream happen but tonight the legacy continues to grow.
Start with some packing tape. Sign 400 soccer balls. Then release the air and pack them in boxes. That's Nick Madaras' dream being fulfilled.
"Nick had the right idea I guess," said Nick's father Bill. "I guess it's a simple way that a lot of people can do something that, you know, is material."
Sadly, Nick didn't get the chance to see that dream. He was killed by an I-E-D while serving in Iraq in 2006. But shortly before his death, Nick, a devoted soccer fan, told his family he'd like to bring some soccer balls to Iraq to give them to the children he encountered.
Nick's Dad is making sure the dream lives through the " Kick For Nick" foundation.
"By the end of the week, it will be 21,000 balls that I've done from all over the country," Bill said. "That's from 45 states."
And so, inside the Wilton "Trackside" Teen Center, soccer balls are signed by loving hands that will go to feet thousands of miles away.
"The kids in Iraq right now, they don't have that many soccer balls, and that's what Nick realized," said Wilton 7th Grader Justin Shepard. "That's what he wanted to do and we want to continue his dream."
"Nick Mandaras loved to play soccer and he coached some people," said Wilton 3rd Grader Brenna McPhee. "And kids who loved to play soccer and can't afford soccer balls; so we're signing them."
A legacy grows making good on a posthumous promise. Every soccer ball celebrating life while honoring a life well spent.
"Next thing he'd want to do is go over there and coach a team; yeah, he'd love it," Bill said.
Air pumps are also donated so the soccer balls are playable soon after they arrive in Iraq
