A lot of unfortunate things happen in the world we live in, and there’s not always much we can do to control it. One option is to adapt to the situation and move on. Another option is to actively work towards making the world a better place, just like Kevin Ashford, who donated all of his 25,000 baseball cards to a little girl who lost her cards in the Creek Fire in early September. 

Ashford said that he heard Reese Osterberg’s story on the radio from the fire department asking for donations to replace her lost baseball cards. Initially, Ashford was planning to sell his collection on eBay, apparently worth between 35k to 50k; however, instead of selling it on eBay, he decided to do a good deed and donate his cards to Reese Osterberg. “I had initially planned on selling my cards on eBay, but when I thought about the smile I could put on that little girl’s face, it was an easy decision. I felt compelled to donate the cards to her,” Ashford told CNN. 

When the two finally met, they found out that they had a lot in common in relation to baseball. A lot of things that Reese did as a child, Ashford also did. “When she told me that she used to sit with her binder of baseball cards in front of the TV watching baseball, I knew I had made the right decision because that’s exactly what I used to do as a kid.”   

Reese and her mother, Amy Osterberg, told CNN that in addition to giving away cards to Reese’s friends and teammates, they plan to send cards and notes of encouragement to children at the nearby Children’s Hospital of Central California. Reese said, “When someone does something nice for you, it’s important to do nice things for other people, too.” 

Reese and M. Ashford told CNN that they’re looking forward to going to a baseball game together after everything opens back up again.