Battle Creek Mother and Son Turn Bottle Deposits Into Life-Changing Sports Opportunities for Low-Income Youth

Small Change, Big Impact: How One Battle Creek Family Started Nonprofit to Send Kids to Football Camps

*BATTLE CREEK, MI* — The 10-cent deposit on bottles and cans is giving youth from low-income families in Battle Creek opportunities to play ball and experience professional sports. This grassroots effort began in 2023 and has evolved into a nonprofit foundation that now sends dozens of children to football camps and special game experiences that would otherwise be financially out of reach.

From Claude Evans Park to Major League Stadiums

The story started while Brittney Dowdy watched her son, Bentley, participate in a free baseball program at Claude Evans Park. The program was offered through Gray's On Deck LLC, owned by Evan Gray. Bentley is now a fourth grader at Riverside Elementary School.

With a few weeks left in On Deck's 2023 season, Dowdy and her son, along with Gray and other members of the baseball program, began collecting bottles and cans in the community. Gray also collected from his co-workers at United Parcel Service and others.

The endgame was ambitious: collect enough to cover the cost of chartering a bus to transport 60 young baseball players to watch the Detroit Tigers play at Tiger Stadium.

The bottle and can collectors knocked their goal out of the park. The following year, they pitched in again and took more than 60 youth from On Deck to a Chicago White Sox game.

While Gray continued to focus on his baseball program, Dowdy began exploring opportunities to send these kids to sports camps.

Discovering the Detroit Lions Football Camp

"I found out that the Detroit Lions were hosting a summer camp in Battle Creek. Bentley had gone to one in 2022," says Dowdy, an administrative assistant at the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital (KRPH).

While she was able to pay the $249 for the football camp, she knew it was a "lot of money" for low-income families.

Youth football camps in Michigan typically range from $80 to over $150 per day. Specialized or overnight options, such as Offense-Defense or IMG Academy, range from $599 to over $3,000. Local university and high school day camps, such as those at Western Michigan University, often offer more affordable options.

WMU football day camps this year range from $80 to $124 per participant, according to the university website.

"I knew if I could collect $9 from 28 people, I could send one kid to that Detroit Lions camp," Dowdy says.

The Mother-Son Birthday Challenge

To augment bottle and can collections, Dowdy and her son came up with the idea to do a $9/$29 Mother-Son Birthday Challenge, which they posted on Facebook. People could donate $9 in honor of Bentley's ninth birthday or $29 to commemorate her birthday, which is on March 29.

"I want to help people to do stuff they couldn't really afford because they may be a single mom or a parent who's working two jobs. I want them to have something they could feel good about," Bentley says.

The goal: so they can have lots of fun at their camp and try out new stuff instead of being on video games all day.

Enough money was collected to send 32 kids to the Lions football camp in 2025. The foundation also fed them, their parents, and coaches during the four-day camp.

Expanding the Mission

The Birthday Challenge is being reissued this year to send kids to a University of Michigan Football Camp, May 16 to 17, at Battle Creek Central High School, which costs $130 per participant.

Eligibility for this camp includes a financial literacy component for participants that Dowdy hopes to offer in April, which is Financial Literacy Month. She's in discussions with local banks to gauge their interest in making presentations.

"Our goal is to register 40 kids," she says.

The Mother-Son Birthday Challenge began with a meaningful conversation between Dowdy and her son Bentley, who, on his birthday, asked, "How can we give back?"

That single question turned a birthday into a mission, one that now provides life-changing experiences for local youth.

"The Mother-Son Birthday Challenge is about teaching our children the power of giving back," said Dowdy in a press release. "Because of this community's support, we are now an official nonprofit and able to reach even more families."

From Can Collecting to Building a Foundation

This year's camp callout has been changed to $10/$43 to reflect Bentley's and his mother's ages. The initiative is now operating as part of Dowdy's B² (B-Squared) Foundation, which began in December.

"When I didn't have enough money to keep that program going, that's when I decided to start the foundation," Dowdy says.

The foundation's name is a play on the mother's and son's first names and an expression of their shared interest in mathematics. Dowdy serves as executive director and co-founder, and her son serves as co-founder.

In addition to the two of them, the organization's board of directors includes individuals from Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Illinois, and Indiana.

B² has partnered with the Battle Creek Community Foundation (BCCF) to collect bottles and cans. Amber Perry, program manager in BCCF's Grants Department, confirms the partnership.

"They donate their bottles and cans every two weeks," Dowdy says.

In addition to the glass and aluminum that become cash for B², Forrester Insurance gave the foundation a nominal grant, and smaller promotional grants have also been received.

A Legacy of Giving Back

The foundation's work extends beyond sports camps. Dowdy had planned to extend a Spanish language course she offered, called "Hola to Diploma," to six months. The eight-week course was held September through October 2025 and cost $25 per child.

The course was taught by a Kalamazoo-based translator. When funding dried up and she couldn't keep the program going, that's when she decided to start the foundation.

The foundation now operates year-round, collecting donations through bottle deposits, birthday challenges, and grants to provide opportunities for underserved youth in Battle Creek and surrounding communities.

Looking Ahead

Dowdy continues to expand the foundation's reach and services. The B² Foundation represents a powerful model of community-driven change, where one mother and son turned a simple bottle deposit into a platform that lifts up entire families.

As the foundation grows, more children will have access to experiences that spark dreams, build confidence, and create lasting memories. The message is clear: small acts of kindness and community support can create big change.