By TIM GEARHART
For The Ironton Tribune

CHESAPEAKE — Chesapeake High School senior Robin Isaacs saw a need and has embarked on a course to solve it.
With inflation soaring, Isaacs observed that there might be many student athletes at Chesapeake who might struggle to purchase the needed equipment for their sport.
So, Peake Sports Closet was born and she hopes to fill it with “gently used” and new equipment that will be available to students who need it.
“I know the struggles students and families can go through in order to have the materials and supplies they need for sports,” she said.
“Sports equipment can be very expensive, and items like basketball shoes, football cleats, track spikes, volleyball knee pads, and many other types of equipment are often left to the families and students to provide for themselves,” she said.
“It’s important to me to lessen the stress some families and students may have with purchasing these items,” she said.
With that, she hopes residents and former athletes will look through their closets, attics and garages and bring those items to the Peake Sports Closet so they can be recycled.
Teacher Kerry Fizer is a supporter of the project.
“Robin Isaacs has a heart of gold!” Fizer said. “If you need help with getting sports equipment or supplies for your child, please reach out to her. If you are able to donate items to help these children, please reach out to her. It does take a village to raise a child. Every heart and hand counts,” she said.
Isaacs said: “I am going to start collecting donations from anyone willing to give things that are still able to be used, or new items. If you do not have anything physically to give, cash donations would be greatly appreciated. There will be multiple fundraisers that I will be doing to collect donations and put them in an account. All donations will be going to Chesapeake athletes,” Isaacs said.
Thursday evening after volleyball practice, Isaacs, who plays volleyball and basketball and can be found on the track team, was joined by Jacob Daniels (basketball and baseball) in front of the school’s main entrance to accept donations.
“We did really good,” she reported. “We collected $290 and a lot of gear. We will probably set up again here in the next few weeks, but we are also setting something up for the Meet the Peake on August 11th at the school,” she said.
“All donations will be going to Chesapeake athletes. These students represent our schools and community, and I hope we can all come together to help make sure they have what they need to compete and compete at the fullest potential,” she said.