2006 Programs and Events

U.S. Embassy Facilitates Football (Soccer) Shoe Donation

Embassy Staff Facilitates New York Teen's Soccer Shoe Donation Program

On Wednesday, June 14, Consular Officer Phil Nervig and Community Liaison Officer Katherine Nervig delivered over 70 pairs of football (soccer) shoes to Hope's Promise, an organization that runs after-school programs for at-risk youth in Vientiane, including soccer teams for kids ages 13 to 18. The shoes were the first shipment of almost 200 pairs collected and donated by Dean Colvin, a high school senior at St. Anthony High School in Huntington, New York. 

Dean started his Shoes Overseas ("SOS") program at the end of his junior year soccer season by asking all of his teammates to donate gently-used soccer shoes to kids in Laos who would otherwise have none. The program's initial success has spurred Dean to plan bigger this fall, with plans to solicit soccer shoes and equipment from other area schools and towns. Dean's efforts exemplify the type of positive contacts that can be made between young people in the United States and other countries.