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United Way Blog

Be a Champion. Serve the Community.

Be a Champion. Serve the Community.

RFK Stadium, built in 1961, is old and cavernous and a far cry from the gleaming new facilities built for this summer’s Olympic Games.  Once home to the Washington Redskins, it is now the home to Washington D.C.’s successful soccer team, D.C. United. I like soccer, and I like RFK, but here’s what I really like: huge signs, visible from every angle in the stadium, that prominently display the core of D.C. United’s mission statement: WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS.  SERVE THE COMMUNITY.

Wow!  “Win Championships.”  I’d expect that.  But “Serve the Community”?  If only one-tenth of the people attending the matches decide to start or do more volunteering to “Serve the Community,” D.C. United will have already done a great service for the nation’s capital and perhaps beyond.

Even better, the team’s charitable arm, United for D.C., coordinates opportunities for D.C. United staff, players and fans work to work together on community service projects.  One of the signature programs is “United Reads”, which donates more than 10,000 books to D.C. public schools each year and conducts other activities to encourage reading, eating well and staying active.  United Way of the National Capital Area is a partner of this program, and is joined by United Ways across the country, like United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area (pictured above), in supporting early grade literacy with the ultimate goal of helping kids succeed in school and graduate on time.

D.C. United has won the Major League Soccer championship four times, but because service is also part of their mission, they are champions to me every day. Regardless of where you live or what team you cheer for, there’s a United Way near you that is serving the community and can help you get involved.  Or, simply click here and find a volunteer opportunity near you. 

Be a champion. Serve the community. Live United.