Soul, Lehigh Valley Steelhawks and Mealey's Furniture to Build Playground for School
June 23, 2016 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
ALLENTOWN - The Philadelphia Soul will be playing their final regular season home game at the PPL Center on Saturday, July 9 and in partnership with the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks and Mealey's Furniture, will be bringing their philanthropic ways with them. The Soul, Soul owners and NFL Stars Marques Colston and Ron Jaworski, Steelhawks & Mealey's Furniture are teaming together to make seven-year old Darius' dreams of a new playground for Lehigh Parkway Elementary School come true.
Darius, a student at Lehigh Parkway Elementary School in Allentown, received an autographed Marques Colston jersey last Christmas. Darius is a huge Marques Colston fan and an even bigger Philadelphia Soul fan. After finding out that Marques was an owner of the Soul, he decided to write Marques, Ron Jaworski & the Soul to see if they could help his school in its effort to build a new playground. Colston was extremely eager to help with this project.
"It is very important to the Soul to support the communities that support us," said Colston. "I'm proud to be a part of an organization that uses its platform to make a lasting impact on the lives of children like Darius and his schoolmates."
The playground at the elementary school consists of only a seesaw, and despite the elementary school's efforts to raise money, they still have not reached the $25,000 budget that is needed. After receiving the letter, the Soul thought it would be a great initiative, but they knew they would need more support to help build the playground.
Mealey's Furniture, a Philadelphia Soul partner, has been trying to reach out to the Lehigh Valley market and what a better way than to sponsor this initiative.
"Mealey's Furniture really wanted to help Lehigh Parkway Elementary School with this renovation," the Director of Marketing & Advertising at Mealey's, Tara Kelly stated. "We believe playground time is an important part of a child's development - not only for the exercise it provides, but also for unorganized free play. We hope this playground provides a place to play freely, interact with other children and families, and enjoy healthy outdoor activity."
The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the AIF have been a tremendous partner throughout this entire process of the Soul coming to the Lehigh Valley for a regular season game, and they also will be supporting this initiative.
"Our relationship with the Soul is fantastic and when they asked us to support the build, it was a no-brainer," said Steelhawks General Manager Mike Clark. "We are engaged in this great community year-round and are excited that our partnership with the Soul has now resulted in something awesome for one of our local schools."
Of course, Lehigh Parkway Elementary School was more than welcoming of the efforts of the Soul, Steelhawks and Mealey's Furniture.
"Lehigh Parkway Elementary School is extremely excited about partnering with the Soul & Mealey's furniture," William Seng, principal of Lehigh Parkway Elementary school stated. "We are humbled by the generosity of these three organizations and especially the support of Marques Colston, Ron Jaworski, Jahri Evans, Robyn Colajezzi and the Steelhawks," Seng said.
Lehigh Parkway Elementary will be holding a ticket fundraiser for the July 9 game when the Soul face conference rival, the Cleveland Gladiators. Proceeds will go towards building the playground. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.allentownsd.org/content/playground-partnership.
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