Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SSVCF) will be hosting its 3rd annual fundraising dinner on Friday, September 17 in History Park. Details here: http://www.ssvcf.org/annualdinner.html. Thanks to the Gold Pride, the event will include FC Gold Pride auction items, including a team-autographed ball, jersey, and 2010 season ticketholder t-shirt. The past two years, select FCGP players have attended the event, too. Hope to see Gold Pride fans there. * * * * * SSVCF is comprised of volunteer San Jose Earthquakes fans whose mission is to "build community through soccer" by sponsoring charitable efforts in the soccer community, including last season helping to sponsor the FCGP Lion's Den, working in tandem with the club. We also partner with History San Jose, the city's history museum, to collect, preserve and exhibit the Bay Area's rich soccer legacy, including that of the Gold Pride and the CyberRays. FCGP donated several items to the museum this past year, and SSVCF also acquired several game worn kits for the museum, including Marta's from earlier this season and one worn by Brandi Chastain during the CyberRays' championship campaign in 2001. This year, SSVCF is sponsoring the inaugural Hannah Welker Memorial Award for the most community-minded Gold Pride player to complement a similar award to the Quakes' counterpart. Both awards commemorate young soccer players who passed prematurely and enjoy the active involvement of their respective families in the award process. SSVCF is an entirely volunteer-driven effort and we're always looking for more fans who want to be "part of the team" in working closely with the Quakes and FCGP. We welcome the involvement of FCGP fans.
SSVCF has been a great partner to FCGP and I encourage our fans to get involved with the organization. For starters, attending the 3rd Annual Fundraising Dinner - cool thing is you get to sit at the table with players. I enjoyed meeting Earthquake players at the Inaugural event. Also, I know that I've cleared out my closet of some old memorabilia that shows the great history (and herstory) of soccer in the Bay Area. If you are sitting on anything, please think about donating to History SJ. And if you are a really meticulous person - helping catalogue the items would be welcomed. August 14th is our Hannah Welker tribute game. If you want to purchase a ticket in her honor and help raise funds for her foundation - Foundation 47, call Joel in our office at 888-541-3511. So feel free to post here if you have questions about how to get involved.
Nominees for the inaugural Hannah Welker Memorial Award for most community-oriented Gold Pride player are Nicole Barnhart, Rachel Buehler and Kristen Graczyk. Winner will be announced live at the Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation dinner on September 17. Congrats to all the nominees.