Oct. 25th Benefit Concert and Silent Auction, Burlington, Vermont

On Thursday October 25th from 8pm-12am, Magnolia's Bistro of Burlington, Vermont opened its doors to the community for a concert and silent auction to benefit Futbol Para La Vida. Futbol para la Vida (soccer for life) is an HIV/AIDS prevention education and youth leadership program in the Dominican Republic. FPV developed from a 2005 pilot project between the community of Batey Libertad, the University of Vermont (UVM), and Grassroots Soccer. You can read more about the program at the September 2007 posting on this blog, or listen to a National Public Radio story at Only a Game.

The evening was a huge success, with money raised at the door and through a silent auction directly benefiting HIV/AIDS prevention education in the Dominican Republic. A huge thanks goes out to July and Shannon of Magnolia's for great food and hosting the event, Kelly Ravin and friends (of Lucy Vincent) for some fantastic music, Tristam Coffin of UVM for organizing and advertising, the November '07 UVM travel-study class for collecting items for the auction and getting out the word, many Vermont businesses for auction items -- including Smuggler's Notch, Magnolia's, University Mall, and Magic Hat Brewery -- and of course everyone who showed up (in spite of missing the Red Sox game).

"Lose the Shoes" Soccer Tournament and Fundraiser at UVM

On Sunday, October 14th, the University of Vermont (UVM) hosted a "Lose the Shoes" barefoot soccer tournament and fundraiser for "Futbol para la Vida", Libertad's HIV prevention education program in the Dominican Republic. Although temperatures we're in the low 40s, more than 100 UVM student's turned out to play. FPV is part of the international Grassroot Soccer network, and "Lose the Shoes" tournaments occur throughout a network of U.S. colleges and universities in support of Grassroot Soccer and affiliated programs through the College Kick AIDS Campaign.

This Fall's tournament was organized by the November '07 UVM travel-study course to Batey Libertad. Twenty-five teams competed in a 3 v. 3 format on the green of Redstone Campus, with prizes and raffle items donated by local Vermont businesses. For more information on this event, or to help with planning future UVM soccer fundraisers, please get in touch with tournament organizer Lena Forman at lena.forman@uvm.edu. Thanks Lena for an awesome event!

Team "Uno Mas" ... team spirit award:

Goal!!!!
The winning team sporting their new Batey Libertad Coalition shirts: