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Two years ago, Michael Pinsky and David Connor read about a school in Harlem that had a new baseball team but no equipment. The two are baseball players at their own high school and decided they had to help.

"I really couldn't think about childhood without baseball. It's sort of something that's always been there for me," says Pinsky.

So Pinsky and Connor came up with "Home Runs for Harlem," a drive to raise money for I.S. 286 and later M.S. 238. The boys ordered 500 bracelets online and started selling them for $5 apiece. Between selling the bracelets and other donations, they have raised almost $10,000.

"This was just another way of incorporating baseball in my life that's I guess more significant because it's not just for me. It's for other people it's for helping the community," says Connor.

The teams now have new gloves, baseballs, and bats.

"Without the equipment, it's like we could not play baseball. We need the bats, the gloves," says seventh-grader Derek De La Cruz.

The money also helped hire a full-time coach at I.S. 286.

"Having a coach who knows what he's doing, who can really get you to play to the best of your ability, that's something that feels really great," says Pinsky.

With the support of the Department of Education, the boys were able to speak to the students at I.S. 286 about how to give back to their own community.

"It's also important at this age to think about the broader picture and to think about the greater good and helping out people," says Connor.

The players say they have been inspired.

"I want the other kids that were just like me and as young as me to have a future too and to stay out of trouble and everything, and have something to do with athletics and also do good in school," says eighth-grader Julian Singletari.

Pinsky and Connor say they hope to raise money for other baseball teams in Harlem but most of all.

"I just hope they have a fun time playing baseball and if they can have the equipment then that just helps out," says Connor.

So, for making it possible for other students to get a crack at playing baseball, Michael Pinsky and David Connor are the latest New Yorkers of the Week.

For more information on their organization, visit www.homerunsforharlem.com.

If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to: nyer@ny1.com or mail a letter to:
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