Headers for Haiti

Megan Wade With a SUV full of gear for Haiti

Sister Ann delivers the goods

Megan Wade, goalkeeper for Porter Lombard’s Girls 93 team had a life changing experience when she was 10. She was able to spend 3 weeks in Tanzania Africa where she met her pen pal at a school and was able to play soccer with the kids. Already a soccer player, she realized while playing with these kids how soccer is a universal language and the beauty of the game is that all you need is a ball. She played on a dirt field with no nets and a ball that had seen better days yet she played and communicated with kids on a level that may not have happened had it not been for soccer.

Last summer a family friend returned from a trip to Haiti where he spent 2 weeks providing medical care. As he told Megan about his trip he mentioned there was a pretty shabby soccer field across the street from the medical center he worked at. When he announced that he was returning to Haiti to provide more medical help, Megan asked if she could send soccer gear for the kids around the hospital. This started her project “Headers for Haiti”.

Megan organized her high school team (Wenatchee High School – Megan and Sara Silva commute from Wenatchee to play for EFC) to begin collecting gear during the 2010 high school season. In addition she asked businesses for support and 3 businesses said they would donate $50 for every header scored during the season. Megan’s end result was 100lbs of gear including 91 new balls with pumps and $150. Sara Silva, also an EFC teammate scored the only header for the year.

“The cool thing about this project is that our friend is sending me pictures from Haiti showing the kids with the gear we collected” says Megan. She is thinking about continuing the Headers charity this fall and asking businesses for donations for any header scored to continue helping the kids in Haiti.

Well done Megan and Sara!