Moorestown High School junior Michael Miceli and the township’s parks and recreation department are partnering with Sustainable Moorestown for a sports equipment swap on Main Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
“It’s amazing,” Miceli enthused. “I love seeing the little kids come into the booth on Moorestown Day, and they’re so excited to take home a baseball glove or a soccer ball, or to see all of the options that they have and they’re always so excited.
“Everyone asks, ‘How much is this?’” he added. “And I get to say, ‘It’s free, because it was donated by the community.’ And it just makes them even more happy, and it’s just a great feeling all around.”
The idea for the swap was presented to the recreation advisory committee by resident Luca Petriello, who quickly brought Miceli on board. The committee held a fall swap in 2024 at Autumn in Moorestown that netted almost 500 pieces of equipment donations, a roughly 25% increase from the year’s spring haul. Close to 450 pieces were distributed.
“There’s so much unused sports equipment and sports equipment that goes to waste every year, or just piled up in people’s garages,” Miceli noted. “Instead of getting rid of (that equipment), they can donate it, so it’s a win-win. It gets the equipment out of the garage, and we can donate it back to the community.”
Residents can drop off through Friday any slightly used sports equipment – bats, rackets, skates, pads, helmets, sticks and balls – at collection bins in Moorestown Hardware and the Church Street recreation center.
Although the 2025 fall drive will be the last for Miceli, he’s happy to see it continue.
“I’m really excited to see this grow from a small idea to a huge part of the town that people look forward to every year.”
