Many nine-year-old boys ask for basketballs, baseballs, and footballs for their birthday.
That’s what Kavin Hambleton asked his family and friends for this year.
But Kavin isn’t planning on keeping the 30 balls he collected during the hour-and-a-half drive-by birthday party on Saturday. Instead, he will give them to the Champaign Police Department so that they can give them out to the children they serve.
When Kavin is not in school or on the field, he enjoys watching YouTube videos of police officers giving children in their community athletic equipment. He knows the joy that playing basketball and baseball brings to him, and he is hoping that by passing on something as basic as a ball, other children will be able to experience that joy, too.
Since Kavin reached school-age, he has been using his birthday to give back. His mom, Stephanie, said that their birthday parties are a time to support the community. In the past, her daughter has chosen to have friends bring snacks that can be shipped overseas to people who are deployed or to the Humane Society while Kavin has remained focused on everything sports-related, giving to organizations like the Tom Jones Challenger League.
Kavin chose to donate to the Champaign Police Department in 2020 after being coached by a local police officer during summer baseball.
The officer said that Kavin’s family’s commitment to giving back and going through the world selflessly is exactly what we need during this time.
“Kavin has done this selflessly,” he said. “This will help in strengthening relationships between officers and kids that live within the community that we police.”
The Champaign Police Department does not have a program exactly like what Kavin watches on YouTube, but community donations alongside the officers’ willingness to use their own money to purchase toys, helps officers to have something to give to children who may be frightened by life’s circumstances.
The officers also often pitch in their own funds during the holidays when home burglaries have left some children without gifts under the Christmas tree or when families don’t have enough to purchase food.
“We’re all human,” the officer said. “We all have hearts. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, we care about people.”
At times, an officer’s ability to help a child with a gift will soften situations between adults, too.
The officer hopes that the children who receive a ball that Kavin is donating will understand that they are cared about, too: not just by the police officer who hands the ball to them, but by the boy who spent his birthday thinking about them and by the community who picked up the gift.
“People outside of their community have a special place in their hearts for them; they do care about them,” the officer said. “It’s important that we pay that forward.
“We don’t know what kind of day somebody is having, giving a basketball or buying coffee may turn their day around.”
One of Kavin’s thoughts in selecting Champaign was that students within the Unit 4 school district may not get to play like they would if they were attending school in person. Unit 4 students are completing school in a remote environment right now.
He hopes that the balls give them a reason to get outside and play.
Kavin’s baseball coaches echo what he is being taught at home; athletics aren’t just about winning and losing, but instead developing the skills and mindset needed to be a productive and successful adult.
“I want them to learn that being selfless is one of the most attractive traits that one can possess,” his coach said.
Because of what Kavin has learned at home, he is known as a “respectful and positive” member of the St. Joseph Select baseball program.
“He’s one of the most kind-hearted kids I’ve ever met,” his coach said.
Kavin hopes to join the police force when he grows up.
“They help people a lot,” Kavin said.
