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MLS Colorado Rapids

Rapids, Broncos Team Up Aug. 24 with 'Event to Prevent'

August 14, 2002 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


AUGUST 14, 2002 -- Tickets are still available for an entertainment-packed afternoon at INVESCO Field to increase awareness about domestic violence.

The Colorado Rapids will host the 2002 "Event to Prevent", which kicks off at 2:00pm on Saturday, August 24. This event is free to any fan with a Rapids game ticket.

The Colorado Rapids will take on World Cup 2002 Superstar Landon Donovan and the San Jose Earthquakes at 2 p.m. After the Rapids game, the wives of Rapids and Denver Broncos players will face off in a special exhibition soccer game, featuring the teams' mascots as goalies. The Denver Broncos cheerleaders will put on a demonstration, and legendary Broncos players will be available to sign autographs. Local rock music icon Nina Storey will wrap up the event with an afternoon concert beginning at approx 4:30 p.m.

Additionally, the first 6,500 kids (ages 16 and under) through the gates on Aug. 24 will receive a free first-edition Colorado Rapids lunch box!

The Event to Prevent is sponsored by the Denver Domestic Violence Task Force (DDVTF), the Colorado Rapids, and the Denver Broncos, as part of the "Pro Active Pro Athletes" campaign. Cindy Galloway of the Denver Broncos said, "We are very excited to work with the Domestic Violence Task Force and the Colorado Rapids for the first time for this important cause to get information out to the community and increase awareness of the issues." Kieran Cain, Director of Community Relations for the Colorado Rapids echoed that sentiment and added, "The Rapids are very excited to be hosting this event. To have our players take a stand as positive role models for our community on such an important issue as fighting domestic violence is very important to the Rapids. We hope we can help to make a difference."

To support prevention of domestic violence, the Denver Broncos Charities Fund and the Colorado Rapids Community Care Foundation will jointly donate $10,000 to the Denver Domestic Violence Task Force.

The DDVTF is a 15-year-old organization comprised of citywide community members, organizations, civil and criminal justice systems that work together to ensure a coordinated response to incidents of domestic violence. Participants help protect and provide resources for victims, contain abusers and furnish community education about domestic violence.

Several city agencies that have been part of the DDVTF since its inception will be staffing educational booths at the event, including the Denver City Attorney's office, the Denver District Attorney's office, the Denver Sheriff's office, and Denver County Court probation. In 2000 alone, the City Attorney's office prosecuted 5084 cases involving domestic violence. In about one-third of those cases, children were present and had witnessed the incident.

SafeHouse Denver, a Denver Domestic Violence Task Force member organization and active participant in the Event to Prevent, provided 10,720 nights of shelter to battered women and children in 1999, and responded to 8,800 crisis calls for assistance and information. Project Safeguard assisted approximately 1,885 women in obtaining civil restraining orders in the Denver metro area during 2000, and responded to 13,934 calls for legal advocacy.

Domestic Violence is a serious societal problem of epidemic proportions affecting both men and women. According to a 1998 Common Wealth Fund survey, nearly one-third of American women reported being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. A Bureau of Justice Statistics study reported that women in their high school years to their mid-20s are nearly three times as vulnerable to attack by a husband, boyfriend or former partner as those in other age groups. Furthermore, according to a national survey of more than 2,000 American families by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, approximately 50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.

Timeline for the Event To Prevent at INVESCO Field Aug. 24:
11:00am - Soccer Celebation and Rapids 3v3 "Celtic Cup" outside the stadium
12:30pm - Stadium Gates Open
2:00pm - Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes in MLS action
4:00pm - Broncos Cheerleaders perform / Broncos alumni autographs
4:05pm - Rapids Wives vs. Broncos Wives Exhibition Game
4:30pm - Nina Storey Band performs

All events listed are FREE with a ticket to the Rapids game!

Single Rapids Tickets: available at any Ticketmaster outlet, or online at www.coloradorapids.com. For Group Tickets and more information on the Event to Prevent, please call the Rapids at (303) 299-1599 or click here: http://www.coloradorapids.com/rapidsnews/2002/061302c.asp

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