Miami Palmetto High School junior Hayden Jensen has logged more than 2,000 community service hours, and she is now leading a drive to help families afford youth sports.
Jensen founded the program, called Gear Up for Greatness, with a friend last year. The pair started talking about how costly sports such as dance, cheer, gymnastics and soccer can be, and how families often pay for lessons, games and accessories on top of equipment. The plan is to collect sports gear and clothing in a December donation drive and pass it on to children who could not otherwise take part.
Jensen said the group has been reaching out to companies, including the YMCA, along with smaller businesses. Donations would flow to organizations, which would then give items to kids. Donation spots are planned at Palmetto and at facilities such as the Miami Youth Ballet. She said the group also hopes to contact Pinecrest Elementary, Palmetto Middle and Elementary, and Southwood Middle. The collection would run from Nov. 20 through the end of December, with distribution starting in December and continuing into January.
Jensen is also a competitive dancer with the Miami Youth Ballet and sits on the Palmetto cheer team. She works at Nature Postings off Old Cutler Road, where she started as a camper and later became a counselor. She volunteers at Redlands Community Church and worked summer camps at Nature Posting and Dance Empire.
