This year more than 40 Carpentersville Middle School students signed up for wrestling. But with more families out of work than ever, there was not enough gear for them all.  One of the kids secretly wore two left shoes.  Another had to change his laces from his regular shoes to his wrestling shoes every day.

CMS 8th grader Elijah Velez-Kramer saw this and felt he had to do something about it.  Elijah took it upon himself to raise over $1,000 from the community to purchase new wrestling shoes, snacks, and equipment for his team.  Elijah also called Play it Again Sports in Crystal Lake to ask whether the managers would be willing to help. For his efforts, they agreed to sell new wrestling shoes to the team at a huge discount.

CMS wrestling coach Sam Carrozza said that coaches there have strived to communicate to the team the values of hard work, kindness and being a quality person.  He was thrilled that Elijah took those messages to heart.

"I hope this act of generosity proves to all the type of child we have among our sports teams and walking our halls at Carpentersville Middle School," Carrozza said.  "I am so extremely proud of this young man.  Students, faculty, staff, teachers, and parents can appreciate and learn from his compassion for his fellow teammates."