Cat’s Pride Impacts Our Community
Cat’s Pride was created in the spring of 2020 by Tyler Lynch and Bobby Fetter. The main goal of their new organization was to supply used sports equipment to underprivileged children in our community. Being athletes themselves, they understood the cost of buying equipment can be difficult for some, so they wanted to help in any way possible.
“Over quarantine, we knew we needed to make a difference when life returned to normal,” Fetter said.
The pandemic brought many hardships to people across the globe, and our community was no different. Fetter and Lynch wanted to ease the burdon on families by taking away the financial stress of buying new and expensive sports equipment for aspiring young athletes. As life started to resemble normalcy again, Bobby and Tyler put their plan into action, and Cat’s Pride was born.
Their first mission was to collect used sports equipment from around the community that people were willing to give away. Many parents and current students of Greater Latrobe opened their doors for Bobby and Tyler to take their old equipment they weren’t using anymore. Thanks to countless hours scouring through basements, Cat’s Pride was able to collect a large inventory of old sports equipment. The equipment included baseball bats, gloves, balls, tennis rackets, and golf club sets just to name a few.
Last July, Cat’s Pride, alongside many student volunteers, hosted an equipment drive at the high school. Over five days, families showed up in bunches to see if they could find equipment for their son or daughter to use. For many families, Cat’s Pride gave them the opportunity to have sports equipment that they may not have been able to afford otherwise.
Fetter noted that he was taken aback by the number of kids Cat’s Pride was able to impact at the equipment drive. “I was surprised to see we got that many people. The kids and parents were really appreciative.” “When the first person came in and got something, we succeeded because we helped one person,” Lynch added on.
After the highly successful event, Cat’s Pride took its next step a few weeks after the equipment drive.
Cat’s Pride asked children to write letters to them asking for sports equipment they wanted that they were unable to find at the first equipment drive. To the surprise of the contest winners, they were being selected to buy the equipment they were looking for at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Because of two generous monetary donations, Cat’s Pride was able to take these kids to Dick’s for a shopping spree to buy any equipment they were looking for. The growth of this event brought the attention of WTAE to cover it for viewers to see across the Pittsburgh region. Bobby said it was the highlight of Cat’s Pride so far. “Being able to see our idea [giving less fortunate children the opportunity to have sports equipment] come to fruition like that was really special,” said Fetter.
Bobby and Tyler had to learn on-the-fly to organize the equipment drive and host the families at Dick’s.
“We learned as we went,” said Fetter. “We sent out lots of emails and made many phone calls to as many people as we could, including the municipal building and other athletes. Mrs. Yetter helped publicize it on the school’s social media platforms. We just had to keep trying new things and adapt to our situation.”
However, Bobby and Tyler did not relish on their success for too long. In the fall, they decided to create a Christmas event for Cat’s Pride. The event would be another contest in which local children aged 12 and under that attend Greater Latrobe would write a letter to Cat’s Pride asking for a gift that was sports-related. The letters were dropped off at Adam’s Memorial Library and carefully read by Bobby and Tyler to determine the winners of the contest. The winners will have their wish come true and be delivered their gift of choice. The gifts will be distributed by Cat’s Pride to the kids and their families throughout this Christmas season.
“We wanted to give back and bring joy to people over Christmas time. We wanted this to be a continuation of the event we held over the summer,” said Fetter.
As seniors, Bobby and Tyler hope to see their creation last well past their times at Greater Latrobe.
Tyler said, “Hopefully, new students can take over for us and run it even better.”
Bobby added in another goal for Cat’s Pride. “We would like to partner with other schools before we leave to make this organization even larger. More schools could bring in more money for events like the one we had at Dick’s, so we can make a county-wide or regional impact for these families.”
The future of Cat’s Pride is heading in the right direction thanks to the leadership of Bobby Fetter and Tyler Lynch that has given joy to many. Cat’s Pride exemplifies the spirit of giving during this Christmas season and will continue to leave its mark on many families in our community.
Michael Giorgianni, who goes by Mikey, is a senior at Greater Latrobe Senior High School. He has attended the Greater Latrobe School District throughout...
