Alex Hopkins is into change. From his change up pitch to his Graduation Challenge fundraiser entitled Change Gears Change Lives, as far as Hopkins is concerned, change is a good thing.

Born in St. Louis, Mo. on Jan. 25, 1992, Hopkins and his family moved to Shelburne in 1995. The family includes parents, Alison and Bill, and 12-year-old sister Kelsey, and their two golden retrievers Claire and Lucy.

This senior lefty began his baseball career playing T-ball in preschool. Hopkins played his way through the Town’s farm league, then minors, majors, and finally Babe Ruth.

Hopkins began pitching as recently as his sophomore year on the Junior Varsity squad at CVU. An obvious talent on the mound Hopkins has incorported a 2-seam fastball, low and away or a curveball into his arsenal of go-to pitches. With a reputation as an effective pitcher, Hopkins won his first game of the season in relief, a 7-5 victory over Missisquoi on April 22.

The two-year varsity athlete comments, "I’ve played in the outfield and first base in the past, right now I’m primarily a relief pitcher. However, I am willing to play wherever the coach needs me." According to CVU head coach Tim Albertson, that means pitching. "Alex is a crafty left-handed pitcher who works hard at everything, academics, athletics, community, etc. As a senior he has really stepped up and become a leader on the field and in the dugout," Albertson adds, "He is quick on the base paths but will spend most of the season pitching for the Redhawks."

Hopkins professes that he doesn’t have a custom he sticks with before every baseball game. But put him in the batter’s box and everything changes. First it’s a couple of practice swings. Then he takes the bat and hits one or two corners of the plate before the first pitch and sometimes in between pitches as well. Sounds like a ritual to me.

In addition to baseball Hopkins has run cross country throughout high school and competed on the alpine and Nordic ski teams. He is also a self professed, "big golfer."

Hopkins is passionate about more than playing sports. In April 2007, Hopkins visited the impoverished area of Reynosa, Mexico on a church-sponsored mission. During that trip, Hopkins and his family helped build a house for a family who had lost their home (an abandoned school bus in which the family lived), in a fire.

"I’ve gained a passion for the people of Reynosa," Hopkins explained. "These people live with nothing – they are the poorest of the poor. I’m passionate about helping them secure the necessities of food and shelter." In an area rife with poverty, hunger, unemployment, and drug cartel violence, Hopkins hopes to fund the building of a community food kitchen. The food kitchen will serve as a site where schoolchild-ren can eat breakfast every day and offer much-needed vocational classes for area residents with job training in food preparation, sanitation, and serving. Hopkins sees the food kitchen, which will be attached to an existing ministry center, as offering the people of Reynosa a safe haven, sustenance, and hope. To that end, and as his Grad Challenge project, Hopkins organized a major bike race, Change Gears Change Lives, which was held at the Catamount Family Center in Williston last August. Change Gears Change Lives, a charitable biking organization, partnered with Mission Discovery to serve the poor people of Reynosa. The Grad Challenge project, also Hopkins’ greatest achievement to date, included a daylong series of biking events and festivities including a 2.5K kids ride, a 5-20K fun ride, a 10K bike race, and a silent auction featuring a football autographed by Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and a signed photo of golfing legend Arnold Palmer. The event excedeed its goal — raising over $14,000 complete with a happy ending. The community kitchen in the colonia of Ramon Perez Garcia on the outskirts of Reynosa opened two and a half months ago. Hopkins says proudly, "I believe up to 70 kids a day are being fed a warm breakfast before school."

Next year Hopkins is up for another change. After graduation he will attend the 150-year-old Wheaton College just west of Chicago in Wheaton, Ill. Why Wheaton? "It has a unique Christian atmosphere, some of my family lives there, and I could root for the White Sox," Hopkins answers matter-of-factly. He is also interested in majoring in biology thanks to Mr. Eli, his AP biology teacher. This reporter is thinking he should consider marketing, public relations, or becoming president of another non-profit. Based on what Hopkins has already accomplished, I suspect that he could change his pitch and change the world.