Sodium, more than just a pretty face

In an act of kindness that exhibits just how great these young ladies are, our own Erika Cook took it upon herself to help out those in need. Erika involved herself in program called Passback that helps out sports teams in need. (Equipment mainly)
Below is a copy of an email sent to Doug Angell (THUSC President) as an update;

Doug...

I just wanted to give you a brief update on the Passback project.

Other than telling Erika to move all the gear out of my entry hall into a less obtrusive location...I had my first involvement this weekend as I transported the donated items to Salem.

Jim and Robin Schaal (President and Registrar) of Central Coast Soccer Association in Newport, OR that Erika selected to be the recipients of the gear drove to Salem to watch Erika try out for ODP and receive everything this morning. Up until Thursday...they had no clue that Erika was not an adult and were quite tickled that a 13 year old would go to this much effort to help other kids play soccer.

Jim and Robin are retired. They live in the bay area from Nov-Mar and spend Apr-Oct at their beach house in Newport. When they first moved to Newport a few years ago, they discovered that this rec club in Newport was very close to dissolving. There were fewer than 70 kids playing soccer and the club had no money. Their oldest son (now 36) had been a competitive soccer player in his youth and Jim helped organize a trip to Europe for his team when he was in high school, so they were passionate about reviving this program for this community. Because the population of this community is seasonal and many of the year round residents work in the hospitality industry, the average household income is less than $25 K/Year. These families have a hard time paying registration fees of less than $45/season and the the Schaal's have worked tirelessly to ensure that no child is turned away for lack of ability to pay. The club now has over 350 kids playing soccer each fall and an entire team drives up from Florence, OR just to play games. Items like cleats and balls have been luxuries for many of these kids and the coaches do not have pinnies, cones, etc. The club actually applied for assistance from Passback almost 18 months ago and had not had any response until Erika contacted them in June with her plan to collect the used soccer gear.

This morning...thanks to the generosity of THUSC parents and coaches...Erika was able to give them:
28 pair cleats
12 pair shin guards
Goalie Gloves
Goalie Jerseys
Ball Pumps
28 asst color pinnies
58 asst cones
28 asst size soccer balls
7 pr shorts

In addition to their admiration of Erika's efforts...the Schaal's also thank THUSC for allowing her collect these items on their behalf. They plan to send a thank you to the club, place a story on their club website about THUSC and they have plans to put an article in the local newspaper. Since our collections schedule was shortened with the unexpected Sodium trip to Virginia, I have promised the Schaal's that if there are additional items donated, I will commit to getting them delivered to Newport.

I have attached a picture of Erika and her teammates Laura C and Taylor M with all the gear this morning.

Kristina

Erika is a true testament to the makeup of the Sodium team, and an outstanding individual. Thank you Erika.

The team and fans scream; GO ERIKA!