Thaze and Thavas Antonio - Social Entrepreneurs Raising Funds for America SCORES
Thavas and Thaze Antonio
Sometimes it takes the initiative and creativity of young minds to make magic happen. This is one of those times.
Brothers and soccer fans Thaze (9) and Thavas Antonio( 12) have created a website to collect and sell used sports equipment in the Bay Area. The boys are donating all proceeds to America SCORES Bay Area, and they’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $2000. They’ve already raised and donated $1000.
The brilliant idea, combining sport, community service, re-use, and environmentalism, sprang to life in 2020, a year when the pandemic only amplified the needs of nonprofits like America SCORES.
The seeds of their fundraising engine were planted back in 2018 after an encounter with one of their favorite coaches and a SCORES team at Crocker Amazon Fields in San Francisco. Thaze, Thavas, and their father, Arun, had gone to Crocker Amazon to kick the ball around. Soccer is a family affair, and the boys and both their parents play. The trio happened upon a SCORES game day.
“We came across this organized group of kids playing soccer,” Thavas explains, “and one of my favorite coaches, Coach Junior, was there too. Their favorite coach, “Jr.” Genaro Arana also happens to be a SCORES senior program director. Thaze and Thavas were struck by the energy and joy of the group. “There was another guy helping Junior coach, and we loved his spirit and energy,” Thavas continues. That was SCORES program coordinator Kevin Calderon, who that day was acting as a field marshall, ensuring game day play went smoothly. Kevin and Thavas immediately connected, throwing a football around in between soccer kicks. “We thought, wow, this is super awesome,” remembers Thavas. “Then we left and played soccer, but I kept thinking about them and how we could help.”
The idea would percolate for several years.
In the meantime, Thaze and Thavas were developing into veteran social entrepreneurs. For the last three winters, Thaze and his best friend Lorenzo Berkley have written and illustrated their own comic books to sell at their school, Clarendon Elementary, to raise funds for socks for the homeless through the nonprofit, https://www.projecthomelessconnect.org/. Thavas helps with sales.
In the first comic, Thaze and Lorenzo developed their story around characters created by author Dav Pilkey. “We both really like his book Captain Underpants, so we tried making a remake: Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Unnatural Disasters. “There are natural disasters like tornadoes and tsunamis,” Thaze explains, “but we wrote about unnatural disasters like giant hamsters and lunch ladies with 6000 arms.”
The comics were a hit. Some people bought digital copies ($2 each), while others donated actual socks. Last year they raised enough money from the generous school community to provide 700 pairs of warm socks.
But as the pandemic of 2020 laid bare the inequities kids and families face in the Bay Area, Thaze, Thavas, and their parents began thinking more about how they could help even more people. How could they help kids? “We realized that during this time, we wanted to raise funds to support sports, because sports aren’t the first thing that people are thinking about when considering others in need right now. But sports are incredibly important, especially for kids,” Arun says.
Thavas remembered the group of America SCORES kids playing at Crocker Amazon Fields and a project began to take shape. Arun, recognizing an opportunity for extra learning, suggested the boys build a website. It took Thavas two weeks to build Re-Use for Good, using WordPress and the web hosting company Bluehost. He was up for the challenge, having already learned the programming language Python over the summer. “He’s amazing at it,” Thaze says admiringly of his older brother. “He says it’s like another language.” The boys chose a clean, simple layout and Arun helped with the integration of a payment platform.
Thavas and Thaze started spreading the word, sending out emails to friends and family about their campaign. “We got a lot of responses really quickly,” says Thavas, “including from people we didn’t know. Some people offered equipment, while others chose to simply make cash donations. Family friends and colleagues at Arun’s work donated a wide range of goods: a wetsuit, jump ropes, scooters, baseball equipment, skateboards, rollerskates, and a snowboard with prices ranging from $10 to several hundred.
It became clear that their idea hit a nerve. In pandemic times, sports equipment was highly sought out. And people wanted to be both more environmentally responsible in embracing re-use and generous in supporting an organization serving kids like America SCORES.
Thaze and Thavas are excited to see the clear impact of their efforts. They’re already thinking about how they’ll up the game and plan on raising their fundraising goal. And Thaze and Lorenzo are still creating comics to raise money for socks. In fact, “we’re under deadline!” says Thaze.
Coach Jr. Arana was both surprised and honored to hear about the boys’ fundraising project. “Thaze and Thavas are great kids. They have great spirit, they work hard, and they’re very respectful. At this age, it’s not so much about the talent, but about the respect and how well they listen. And it’s a real reflection of their parents. They’re a terrific family, and you can see it right away. “
Colin Schmidt has been the executive director at America SCORES Bay Area for nearly 20 years. "I am very moved by these boys, their ideas, and the way they’ve taken action. Their accomplishment is an inspiration to kids and adults alike. They’ve recognized a need and taken the initiative to build something that generates real impact. This is a great story of passion, innovation, and kindness."
