Boxes of good deeds turns boy into a man

When he set out on his mission, he aimed to fill up his dad’s car with sports equipment.

“We totally destroyed our goal,” said 12-year-old David Levy on April 11, as he unloaded baseballs, bats, helmets and kick balls from a Chrysler convertible and into the Ittelson Center on Isselin Avenue near West 250th Street in Riverdale.

In need of a good-deed project for his bar mitzvah, David contacted the Jewish Board of Family Service’s Ittleson Center, an educational and treatment facility for children with severe emotional issues. Two months ago, the center completed a $1 million renovation of its gym for its 30 young residents and for the 32 students at PS 723, a special needs school nearby. 

But one thing was missing.

Sonya Fluskey, Milieu Director at Ittleson, said the center had only a few balls.

The kids were mostly using the brand-spanking new gym to run around and play tag. 

David wanted to change that.

He contacted his coach at the South Riverdale Little League, where he plays shortstop and left field for the Rebels. He also reached out to Boy Scout Troop 240 and Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, where he is a member. He handed out flyers asking for “gently used or outgrown sports equipment.” Riverdale families associated with those groups came through. 

He and his dad, Fred, picked up golf balls, metal and wiffle ball bats, lifting weights, pads, catcher’s gear, helmets and baseballs, as well as two baseball gloves, a tennis racket and bats of his own. He filled 10 cardboard boxes (donated by Staples) and a few bags with the gear and dropped it off at the center on April 11.

He carried each box into the facility with a huge smile on his face.

“We’ve got a kick ball in here for you,” he said to Alberta Johnson, an administrator at Ittleson, as he walked up the staircase leading to the gym.