A round-the-clock soccer marathon in Stratford will raise money to buy soccer balls to send to children in Haiti.A round-the-clock soccer marathon in Stratford will raise money to buy soccer balls to send to children in Haiti. A new project in P.E.I. will provide soccer balls for children in Haiti.

A 24-hour soccer marathon begins Friday afternoon at Stratford Elementary School to raise money to buy the balls.

Cynthia Dunsford, MLA for Stratford-Kinlock, is working with the adult soccer league in Stratford to get the project off the ground.

Dunsford recently returned from a relief trip to Haiti.

She said children there are still dealing with turmoil and grief amid a cholera epidemic and the lingering effects of the Jan. 12 earthquake that forced many into temporary camps, and the soccer balls from the Island should allow the children to escape their hardships and be kids again.

"Something like a soccer ball is a basic need," Dunsford said. "We think of basic needs, of course, as food, shelter and clothing. And those things are definitely number one on the list. For children, their basic need is to be happy, to have friendship, to play and learn — and that hasn't changed.

Metro Credit Unions across P.E.I. will be accepting $10 donations — the cost of one ball.

Mary-Jean Irving, president of Master Packaging, will be shipping the soccer balls and other donations to Haiti. They should arrive in the new year.