It's safe to say, Kian Pucher loves soccer.
It's also safe to say, the 10-year old Jarrettsville boy cares about and loves his fellow man in such places as Africa just as much.
Kian is on a bit of a crusade of collecting soccer balls that will eventually be sent to Africa and distributed to soccer players in less fortunate situations.
It all started in early May.
"I was watching a video, kind of like a TV show, and I saw kids playing with goals that were like locks and stuff and after that I was watching this one video, 'One man's treasure could be another man's soccer ball'," Kian said. "I watched it and it was a guy making soccer balls out of grocery bags and strings. That made me kind of upset."
The wheels started to turn.
"We all have all these soccer balls over in America and over in Africa, they're not that rich of a country, and they don't have that much goods that we have," he said.
Kian relayed his thoughts to his family. "About an hour later at dinner, I was talking about [the video] and we came up with the idea to do what we're doing, collecting soccer balls and sending them over to Africa," he said.
So the plan was put in place and soccer balls are being sought for Kian's good cause.
"It was not that that much and then we started doing it and we got a bunch and we're still getting more," Kian said about the collected balls.
Kian thinks they have collected 160 or more balls and they are about to get a bunch of soccer equipment. Kian also notes that they are also collecting ball pumps.
The balls have come from schools, soccer tournaments, friends, team members and the community in general.
"It makes me feel glad that everybody wants to help out and give soccer balls to all the poor kids that are good at soccer, but don't have a soccer ball to play with," he said.
The balls will head to Africa through a ShareAfrica.org program.
"Ghana mostly, but we tried doing it to all. The whole country isn't that rich, so I wanted to send it to more than just Ghana," Kian said.
"There are a lot of good players over there and there's a lot of good players that can't play that well," he continued. "It kind of makes me sad that I have friends who are really good and they are from there and they used to not be able to play."
Kian and his family, parents Vince and Dee, older sister Tallin, and younger brothers Kellin and Declan, are accepting donated balls through June 30.
Their plan is to have all the balls deflated and in the mail on July 1. All balls have to be deflated to make the trip. Kian says he his dad and younger brothers handle most of the deflating.
To donate a soccer ball, contact Kian's mom, Dee, through Facebook.com/dolores.pucher and send a private message, by email at Dmpucher@aol.com and by phone at 410-365-0127.
Kian has also written a letter that may accompany the shipment. It describes his passion for the game and includes a serious, yet funny moment at lunch.
Kian retold his story Monday: "There was a baby tomato that we found on the floor and we were playing soccer with it. The teacher asked why we were under the table and we said we were playing soccer. They were like, 'With what?' And I said, 'like a tomato.' They said stop and don't do it again." And no one ate the tomato.
Kian, a fourth-grader at Jarrettsville Elementary School, has also played football, baseball, lacrosse and ridden dirt bikes, but soccer is his true love. He is a striker for Northern Elite.
"It's just a fun sport that, I guess you can like show off in, and it's a team sport, so you'll be with your team," Kian said. "It's just fun to play in general."
"Thank you to all the people who have donated," he added. "They have helped out a bunch."