Goals For Growth brings sports, equipment and inspiration to SOS Children’s Village
Following a successful launch in 2025, Kellen Crichton and Rhaina Jean-Baptiste return to the SOS Children’s Village in Stony Hill on Saturday for another round of community bonding.
Goals For Growth, the non-profit organisation they started in 2024, will stage a sports-oriented day at the facility which cares for orphaned children. Last August, they collaborated with Fi We Children Foundation in Jamaica for the inaugural event.
This year, Goals For Growth partners with fellow non-profits Football4theWorld and Recovery My Kicks.
“Our mission is simple: to empower youth across the world through inclusive field days and access to lasting sporting equipment,” Crichton said in an interview with Observer Online. “Sports have had a tremendous impact on both Rhaina’s and my life. They’ve taught us resilience, confidence and the importance of having people who believe in you. Every child deserves the opportunity to experience those same lessons and to know they have a team cheering them on.”
Goals For Growth will donate a new pickleball net, four professional-level paddles and new steel benches for the football field at SOS Children’s Village. Football4theWorld and Recover My Kicks will provide football equipment and sneakers for the children.
A special appearance from Yohan Blake — the 2011 World Championships 100 metres gold medal winner — football matches, pickleball, relays and a painting station are other features of the fun day.
Crichton and Jean-Baptiste were born in the United States to Jamaican parents. They competed in volleyball and track and field while attending American Heritage School in Plantation, South Florida.
They start their freshman year at Rice University and Florida A&M University, respectively, this summer.
— Howard Campbell