Ron Mejia is a lieutenant in the New York Police Department, a 25-year veteran who works in the Organized Crime Investigation Unit in Manhattan. While he spends his days, and sometimes nights, trying to lock up bad guys, Mejia and the rest of the NYPD soccer team spend some of their vacations giving back to the less fortunate.
Today, Mejia and some members of his team left for Lima, Peru in what has become an annual trip to impoverished areas to provide soccer equipment and clothing to more than 1,500 children.
“We’re actually reaching out to very poor schools and neighborhoods that are not doing so well,” the NYPD soccer team coach said. “We can reach out to these kids and give them hope that someday they can just elevate.”
Mejia said the initiative started four years ago and he and his fellow officers visited Trinidad, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia. They have teamed with the New York Red Bulls and will bring more than 2,300 pieces of clothing and soccer equipment during their eight-day trip.
“We had the same vision and it just took off,” Mejia said of the Red Bulls. “With their help it’s taken off more than we could have expected.”
Mejia said each trip has been eye-opening. In Ecuador, Mejia said a young boy asked for the name of one of the officers.
“I asked him why did he want to know the officer’s name and he said because it’s the first new jersey he ever received and he said he’ll always remember that,” Mejia said. “That’s a tearjerker.”
Last year in Colombia, Mejia and his team, who use their own vacation time and money for the trips, played in a pick-up game with kids near a cliff.
“We actually played a little game with them, talked to them a bit about gangs and drugs,” Mejia said. “I tell them I was born in Guatemala, came here when I was six or seven and you could do something with your life.”
Added officer Frank Caravella: “When you give them anything, a t-shirt, a pair of cleats or a soccer ball, it just means so much to them that it’s an incredible feeling.”
Mejia said he brings his 20-year-old son Christian, a goalkeeper at the University of Albany, with him on the trips.
“He’s always gotten what I can give him, but for him to see these kids like that who still strive and work hard, it’s an eye opener,” Mejia said.
Plans are already in the works to help the unfortunate children in Cartagena, Colombia next year.
“To give back,” Mejia said, “it’s wonderful.”
