By Alex Marciello
Staff writer
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NEWBURYPORT — For Finn Sullivan, a 6-year-old from Newburyport, T-ball games are about so much more than runs and outs.
For the past few months, Finn has been raising money for Rodeline, a 15-year-old boy who lives in Haiti.
It started with the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. After hearing about the disaster, Finn was fixated on the aftermath and, more importantly, what it meant for the children there, his mother, Jen Sullivan, said.
"He was obsessed," Sullivan said. He was really concerned about the kids; he questioned everything that was happening."
With her son intent on helping, Sullivan logged on to the Partners in Development website, an organization headquartered in Ipswich that she learned about after a friend took part in one of its relief effort trips to Haiti. PID sets a goal of $300 for a year's worth of sponsorship that provides one meal a day, a school uniform, a pair of shoes and medical assistance. Sullivan introduced Finn to the idea, asking him if he would like to raise money for one of the children profiled for sponsorship on the site.
Finn, the only boy of four children, began looking for what he refers to as his adopted brother and came upon the profile of Rodeline, who lives in Port-au-Prince and loves soccer but doesn't get the chance to play much anymore since the quake.
Finn and his mom then got creative with fundraising. "When I was talking to him about it ... I said, 'Your favorite thing is baseball. What if, for every hit you make, people donated? Like Hits for Haiti?'"
Now $39 away from his $300 goal, Finn's pretzel jar, which contains all his donations, is a staple at his T-ball games. While it's not technically "Hits for Haiti," the donations come in every game, with more support coming in online from the website Finn's father, Peter, set up, www.hitsforhaiti.org.
And while the sponsorship only requires $300 a year, Finn's mother hopes it goes beyond that.
"This is something he's going to want to continue, this relationship with this little boy," she said.
