David Dollase is the Director of Safety and Security at Sporting Park and received the 2012 National Sports Safety and Security Professional of the Year Award. He departs for Guatemala on Saturday and will return to Kansas City on Feb. 17th. He will be providing updates, photos and more throughout the trip for SportingKC.com. Below is his first report ahead of the adventure...
Last year, Sporting KC donated soccer gear to supplement the items given out by the medical mission trip at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (Missouri's largest medical school). After hearing all of the stories of how those contributions of soccer balls, shirts and jerseys made an impact on the lives of those in need, I decided to do it again but bigger.
Throughout the year, by coordinating with the KC Cauldron, Sporting KC representatives and leadership we tripled the amount of donated gear from last year. Follow along as we take those items to the clinic sites and schools where KCUMB's 26 students, four faculty, two staff and several of their alumni will be serving over 3,000 people.
These items are going out to some of the poorest villages in remote locations where schools are rarely supplied with gear for students and the classrooms are all still one big room. I want to thank all of the contributors in advance for their generous and heartfelt donations.
Soccer is the international sport that crosses boundaries and touches lives all over the world. Realize now that what you gave is doing the same and will have the potential to impact children’s lives for the better, and who knows, one of these kids may be playing an international game right here at Sporting Park someday, giving back to us.
