Community HOME :: Crew Soccer Foundation :: Crew Soccer Tour :: Community Gallery :: Community Gallery 2
Kicks for Kids :: Youth Soccer Links :: Soccer Rocks :: Copa Victoria :: Donations

The Crew in the Community

Presented by:

The Columbus Crew organization does not confine its efforts to the field of play. Beyond wins, losses and entertainment is the club's commitment to making a difference in its community.

Crew players, coaches and front office staff have worked diligently to help make central Ohio a better place since the inaugural 1996 season. Whether through in-kind donations or appearances by Crew Cat, players and staff at charity events, clinics, festivals and parades, the Crew is committed to playing a significant role in the lives of the greater-Columbus community. And the organization's charitable arm, the Crew Soccer Foundation, now plays a vital role in those efforts, as well.

Since 2003, the organization has undertaken an annual, month-long fund-raiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation called “Soccer Aid,” originally launched by former coach Greg Andrulis. In its first five years, the unique Soccer Aid program, which combines on-line auctions of signed jerseys with an on-field, game-day experience at Crew Stadium, has raised more than $30,000.

The Crew is a longtime supporter and community planning committee member of Youth to Youth International's Just Say No March & Rally, which rewards elementary and middle school students from around central Ohio for making commitments to live drug-free, alcohol-free, tobacco-free lives. And the club has a strong partnership with Keep Columbus Beautiful – a community improvement program of the Columbus Department of Public Service – that has resulted in impactful Linden-Area Neighborhood Cleanups involving players, coaches and front office staff.

The organization is also a longtime partner in the ColumbusReads program, which works under the umbrella of the Help One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) program. Through it, members of the front office staff have been tutoring Columbus City Schools children – to help develop reading and writing skills – since its 1999 inception.

Another part of these outreach efforts is aimed at visiting area schools, hospitals and recreation centers to lift spirits and provide messages about determination, staying in school and being a good sport. Crew players, coaches and staff also participate in a number of community partnerships, including our fourth year of collaboration with Keep Columbus Beautiful on a clean-up effort and a new Habitat for Humanity project to assist in building two homes.

More information on any of the Crew's community outreach programs or the Crew Soccer Foundation can be obtained by calling Dave Stephany or Robin Ungerleider at 614-447-CREW.