Giving Feels Awesome at Patrick Air Force Base

One boy's trash is another boy's treasure
AFTAC Public Affairs
by Susan A. Romano
Posted 6/27/2013

Rafael Nuñez Jr., gives a thumbs up after collecting several pieces of used baseball equipment to distribute to underprivileged youth in the Dominican Republic. Nuñez, a computer security manager with the Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick AFB, Fla., founded a non-profit organization called ‘Giving Feels Awesome,’ whose charter is to “embrace opportunities to connect givers at every level to underprivileged children in need of a lift, hope and happiness through sports participation.”
(Courtesy Photo)

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- For someone who doesn't play baseball, doesn't follow baseball, and doesn't even know the rules of the game, he sure does have a lot invested in the sport.

Rafael Nuñez, a computer security manager for the Air Force Technical Applications Center here, has spent the past seven months collecting baseball equipment for underprivileged kids in the Dominican Republic. It started out as a way to reach out to his family's community after visiting his parents in their native homeland.

"Last year I flew down to see my family in Santiago," said Nuñez. "While I was there, my dad took me by a small village called Villa Gonzalez where I saw local boys playing baseball. They were using juice cartons as gloves, wadded-up rags as baseballs, and flattened out milk jugs as bases. It was at that moment that I realized I needed to do something to help these kids."

He returned home and asked around in his circle of friends if they had any old equipment lying around that their children weren't using anymore. He thought he might get a couple of worn out gloves, some beaten-up cleats and a few old baseball bats that had seen better days.

But what began as a solo effort to collect a few items from neighbors and co-workers has since blossomed into a veritable cottage industry for Nuñez.
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