“Ever since I was a little kid, soccer has been a big part in my life. Soccer has really moved me as a player and person,” says Jared. Fortunately, Jared has been lucky to receive all the necessary equipment to become a dedicated soccer player.

After doing some research, Jared came across Kicks 4 Kenya and realized that he had to do something to help out less fortunate players.

Jared will be donating soccer equipment with all of the money raised for his project. If you would like to help Jared and Kicks 4 Kenya, email lauren [at] soccerpro.com.

Since then, the Homeless World Cup has grown to 48 nations across the world. Over 70% of the players leave with jobs, playing semi-professional soccer, reuniting with their families, returning to school and helping to coach youth teams. 100% of them leave with the experience of playing for their country and the memories of over 100,000 fans cheering them on.

Everyone at SoccerPro is excited to work closely with the Homeless World Cup and appreciate our fans, followers and customer support as well! From now until the end of September, you can donate to the Homeless World Cup and receive a Free HWC Tee Shirt. All proceeds from the tee-shirts will go directly to the Homeless World Cup.

You may or may not remember that in 2008 SoccerGrow donated new balls, cones and pumps to CML in Kenya to run a soccer tournament involving several rural communities surrounding Nairobi. It brings us great joy to report that this tournament was a triumph, reaching more than 800 women, men and children in those communities. The impact that our relatively small donation made to those people surprised almost all of us on this side of the Atlantic, and its success is a clear testament to the power of football and its ability to bring people together.

Much praise should go to CML and their organization for not only organizing a top-notch tournament for hundreds of people of all ages, but especially for seeing the big picture. With limited resources, CML is proud to minister to and improve the holistic health of people. They make it a point to not just reap the benefits of playing sport, but they also answer the call to lift up people through fulfilling basic needs, education, raising spiritual awareness, and community development and support.

SoccerGrow is most appreciative of Willam, head of CML, who actually is the one doing all the heavy lifting to make his organization tick and he most deserving of the credit.  He wrote:

We are honored to declare that SoccerGrow has been the sole instrumental partner in facilitating the launching and final success of this program. SoccerGrow donated the soccer balls, field cones and ball pumps for this program.

The honor is ours.

I encourage you to check out the video and read the full report and results of the soccer tournament on his blog, it’s truly meaningful to see the faces of the people involved in this great event.

But don’t forget that the need is still there! You can still donate to the cause of Kicks4Kenya by going to the donation page at SoccerPro.com

New for the New Year:

Be on the look-out for the new Kicks4Kenya t-shirt, which will be coming soon to SoccerPro.com!

Be the first to find out by signing up for SoccerGrow updates.

If you donate now to Kicks4Kenya SoccerPro.com will double your donation, no questions asked, through December 25th, 2008!

This generous offer will only last for a limited time and if you’ve never given to a soccer charity before, now would be the perfect time, because every dollar you give will be matched, and will help send soccer equipment to young people in Kenya!   Read more about our partnership with Kicks4Kenya.

There is no better time to give to SoccerGrow.org.  Simply go to the Kicks4Kenya donation page and follow the instructions.

While you’re at it, check out this 60 second informational video!

soccerpro.com/kicks4kenya-p7401/

All the best to you and yours this holiday season, and all the best footy for you and yours in the new year! Stay updated on all the things going on here at SoccerGrow.

Strip away all the corruption of governments, the blindness of racism, the crises of financial systems and it’s good and wholesome things like football that remain. There’s too much bad news poison in the world sometimes to see the simple good that sport can do.

Take for instance the current financial crisis, of which AIG, the Manchester United shirt sponsor, has been a major part. According to the International Herald Tribune…

had AIG gone into bankruptcy, the global financial industry would have faced losses of as much as $180 billion.

That kind of money is impossible for any one person to even comprehend, let alone spend. Can you imagine a powerful government or a beneficent Non-Governmental Organization with $180 billion to spend on development, food or cheap medicine?! That would buy a lot of mosquito nets.

So What Can $838 Do?

Recently, SoccerGrow took it’s first major concrete action by sending 34 brand new soccer balls to the Christian Mission to Learners in Nairobi, Kenya who were desperate to hold a soccer tournament but had very little equipment, if any to play with. As you can imagine, this showed itself to us as a perfect opportunity because it is SoccerGrow’s most basic mission as a soccer charity to

tap into the power and potential of the SoccerPro customer base in order to support and grow positive change in the world.  Therefore, the main mission of SoccerGrow is to create and maintain a network of partnerships with charities, not-for-profit organizations and individuals through which SoccerPro can donate soccer equipment and money to those in need.

Less than 2 weeks after hearing about the project, more than 30 soccer balls, soccer ball pumps, and field cones were on their way to Kenya.

As you’re reading this, the very first CML soccer tournament is underway, consisting of 13 teams of young people from rural and urban Kenya. Which means that your support of SoccerGrow is already impacting more than 600 people!

I encourage to read more on the CML blog which includes an excellent description of the tournament so far and some great pictures of all the players and fans!

Many thanks go out to you for supporting SoccerGrow through SoccerPro.com or any other way you can, because it’s you, the customer, that allows SoccerGrow to affect positive change in the world through the gift of the beautiful game.

And finally, many thanks to William of CML for being a great partner and doing all the hard work of hosting a tournament on top of everything else!

Find out more about our partner, CML.

In the grand scheme of charitable giving, generational affiliation doesn’t really matter that much, which is why I am so excited to mention a fellow giver who shows that age is no hurdle when it comes to helping people.  What matters is what you’ve done to make a difference and what you’re doing right now.

Soccer has a unique power to heal wounds across barriers of race, class, language, gender, and age.

So we were overjoyed to read about what Mitchel has been doing in the organization he started called Peace Is the Goal.

He donates soccer gear to people who need it in countries like Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia, and more.

His blog has lots of great pictures and is a nice example for any who might believe that young people can’t make a difference.

Simply put, this young man has done some incredible things. I encourage you to check out his blog, because this is the way things should be done.

Whatever you might call them, SoccerGrow was recently featured on an episode of the soccer podcast, The Goalmouth Scramble. This bi-weekly and sometimes crazy soccer podcast features talk about the English Premier League, transfers, rumors, soccer fantasy, and even Soccer Manager.

You can hear in the episode, which was published August 14th, lots of information about SoccerGrow and other soccer charities doing good work around the world. This is what makes the beautiful game so beautiful. People in need are empowered by total strangers who are willing to lend some money or even the shirts off their backs in the name of sportsmanship and common humanity. This spirit embodies the power of soccer, and this is the fertile field across which SoccerGrow wants to continue broadcasting the seeds of positive change.

Won’t you help do your part?

Would you want to play soccer with a ball made out of rope and plastic bags? Well, neither do the orphans in places like Nakuru, Kenya, but you have the power to help change that. TJ Widbin, founder of Kicks4Kenya makes radical positive change in people’s lives, simply by giving them a soccer ball.

Help TJ Make Positive Change

At first you might think that giving soccer equipment to those in need is a waste of resources and energy, when there is so much more to be done. But if you reflect on your own life I’m sure that you’ll realize that it’s not. The gift of proper soccer equipment can lend enjoyment, fitness, confidence and happiness to someone’s life. Now you can help make that plastic-bag reality a thing of the past by making a tax-exempt contribution through SoccerGrow.

This link will take you to the product page where you can donate now to Kicks4Kenya through SoccerGrow!

You can find a lot more information about the organization and how to donate here on the SoccerGrow Kicks 4 Kenya information page. Or go straight to the K4K blog.