Last summer when Tarrant County APA League Operators Les and Francee Moore were getting ready to order trophies for the session, their daughter, Theresa, mentioned that they should give members the opportunity to donate the cost of the their trophy to charity. Theresa, who had recently graduated from college, played soccer since she was 4 years old and won multiple trophies over the years.
Often times the trophies would end up in a box in storage and were never brought out again, said Francee. And I cannot tell you how many times we had players tell us they pull the nameplate off of the trophy and either trash the physical trophy or give it to Goodwill. Les and I have dozens of boxes of trophies ourselves in the garage from the past 10 years that we will never have a use for.
The Moores felt their daughters idea had merit, so they decided to give it a try. The following session they gave each member receiving a trophy the option of keeping it or donating it. They also gave members the opportunity to donate the trophy cost if they wanted to receive the trophy and still make a donation. Out of 132 Tarrant County APA members eligible to receive trophies after the fall session, 28 chose to donate them back to charity. A total of $260 was raised from the cost of trophies donated and another $70 was donated by players keeping theirs. The $330 collected will be donated to the Alzheimers Association in the name of the players.
The Moores believe this program was a success and plan on continuing it for future sessions. Local charities such as the Union Gospel Mission, Shelter for Battered Women, Tarrant County Food Bank, and others will be the recipients of future donations.
For more information about the Alzheimers Association please visit www.alz.org, and for more information on the Tarrant County APA visit tarrant.apaleagues.com.
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