SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes and Wells Fargo hosted a kickoff event for the 2011 Goals for Education program on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Lincoln High School in San Jose to encourage donation requests. Earthquakes players Khari Stephenson, Brad Ring, and Rafael Baca surprised teams from San Jose PAL during practice and stuck around to sign autographs and serve as assistant coaches for the day.
The teams on hand ranged from U6 to U14 and included both boys and girls. Stephenson, Ring and Baca put the group through a series of drills and spent an hour-and-a-half interacting with the kids. Ring even tested his goalkeeper skills, jumping in front of a few shots during a finishing drill.
Brad Ring tests his goalkeeper skills
"Tell you what, a couple of those kids had some mean shots," Ring said. "I had a lot of fun out there and hopefully we helped create some awareness for the Goals for Education Program. It's a great opportunity to give back to the San Jose community."
Photo Gallery: Check out images from Wednesday on Facebook
For each goal the Earthquakes score in 2011, Wells Fargo will donate $250 to the program. The Earthquakes have scored 35 goals so far this season with two games to go, and have raised $8,750 for the Goals for Education program. The total amount raised will be dispersed to local youth sports programs and athletic departments based on the requests received between Oct. 1 and Oct. 30.
Donation requests will be accepted from Oct. 11 through Oct. 30 with a limit of one request per youth sports program or school athletic department. Each request will be reviewed by a panel of three Earthquakes representatives, and requests will be granted based on overall need, available funds, and the total number of people that will benefit from the donation.
There are two ways to submit a donation request, in person or online. During the donation request period, registration forms will be on hand at the San Jose Earthquakes Front Office (located at 451 El Camino Real, Suite 220, Santa Clara, Calif. 95050) and a representative will be available to assist in the process. Entrants may submit a form online at www.sjearthquakes.com/goals4education. Each donation request requires background information about the program or department, how much money is being requested, specifically how the donated money will be used and how many people will be impacted by the donation.
For more information about the Goals for Education program and the Donation Request Form, visit www.sjearthquakes.com/goals4education.
