7/21/20 - By Joshua Ross
Edited 7/21/20 8:27pm
Hingham residents Dan Rakauskas and Jill Palese were all set to start a swimwear company, Call to Action Clothes, shortly before the pandemic hit in March. They quickly shifted their focus from making swimwear to making PPE gowns when they realized they could produce the much need supplies through their existing manufacturing plants. Back in April, getting shipments into the US was a difficult task, but Rakauskas and Palese already had their shipping schedules set, so they just had to adjust what they were producing.
Their original goal was to provide protective gowns to local hospitals in the area. Today, their goal is to provide gowns, free of charge, to all six Hingham Public Schools (HPS). They have been fortunate to receive enough donations to cover the costs of their hospital production thus far. However, with the large amount of gowns needed for HPS employees they are now turning to the community for help by running a Boys Lacrosse Clinic this Saturday at Ward Field.
Rakauskas, a former lax player, coach, and current lax dad, is hosting a clinic for players in 4th-12th grade to raise the money necessary to produce the gowns for the schools. They are running three, 1.5 hour sessions throughout the day to maintain and comply with local and state safety guidelines. Each session will consist of skill stations run by ten current D1/D3 college lacrosse players who grew up in Hingham.
"This is a great opportunity to not only raise money for the PPE supplies needed to open schools next month, but a chance for youth and high school players to workout and learn from current college athetes." Rakauskas tells the Anchor. "One of the college players, Marc O'Rourke, is on the Tewaaraton watch list. This is awarded to the top college lacrosse player in the country, similar to the Heisman Trophy for football."
The requested donation is $100 per player, which would cover the cost of four to five protective gowns. Please see the information below if you are interested in having your son participate.
Date & Location
The clinic will be held at the Ward Street fields on Saturday July 25th. Players will be separated by position and/or age when they arrive.
Time Slots
8:00am – 9:30am Rising 4th – 6th graders
10:00am – 11:30am Rising 7th – 9th graders
12:30pm – 2:00pm Rising 10th – 12th graders
*All kids and adults are required to wear masks until they put their helmets on at the field.
Format
There are ten current D1/D3 college players who grew up in Hingham running all of the skill stations. These boys have come up through the Hingham Youth Boys Lacrosse program and are great examples of what a lot of hard work can accomplish. They will have all of the positions covered, including attack, midfielders, LSM’s, Close D, Face-Offs and Goalies. Due to the States COVID restrictions on lacrosse, the approach will be to work on position-specific skills with some small area games mixed in. If the Governors rules change before next weekend, they plan to add in full field scrimmages but that is not likely. All players should wear full equipment.
Cost
Each participant is asked for a donation of $100 for the cause. Email danrakauskas@yahoo.com with your child's full name, year of graduation and position (if he’s chosen one), if interested. Donation payments of $100 can be made via VENMO to danrak-C2A. Checks at the field made out to Call To Action Clothing will also be accepted.