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By Steve Brooks
For those who do not believe in a higher power, Legionnaire Al Andres believes he has enough evidence to prove otherwise.
Andres was the central figure in a series of events that, in a span of just 11 weeks, led to 5,000 soccer balls being shipped from the United States to American soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The soldiers are now distributing the balls to children living there. The American Legion, the American Youth Soccer Organization, the Delaware USO, Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles and DHL all came together to make possible what seemed like a difficult task – one that, without donations, could have cost more than $160,000 – in a short period of time.
“This was meant to happen. There’s no other way this could have happened in this short amount of time,” said Andres, commander of Post 431 in Parkesburg, Pa. “I don’t know if you believe in God or not, but there was some kind of godly intervention. It was the AYSO, The American Legion, the USO, the Creative Artists Agency and the military itself all coming together perfectly.”
Everything started with an e-mail sent to an employee at Cisco Systems, Inc., from Marine Corps Maj. David Sandvold a week before Christmas. The employees at Cisco – which has a large veteran contingent, including Andres – had previously joined together to send $6,000 worth of calling cards to U.S. servicemembers serving overseas. Sandvold sent a thank-you e-mail to the Cisco employees; included were his thoughts on the effort going on in Iraq. Sandvold said the people of Iraq had welcomed the soldiers with a “somewhat distant/reluctant acceptance,” but that the children “love us because we give them happiness wrapped in candy. From time to time we will throw them a soccer ball – or any kind of ball – if we get one in the mail. (Hint, hint!)”
The Cisco employees got the hint and, in late January, Andres began making phone calls to see about rounding up some soccer balls. Erin Murray of Mark’s Hope, an organization created in memory of an Army captain killed in Iraq in 2004, donated 300 balls and sent them to Sandvold. In the meantime, Andres also contacted Drew Deighan, the American Youth Soccer Association’s sales and marketing manager.
“When I talked to Drew initially, he told me he could get us 500 soccer balls. We could handle (shipping those),” Andres said. “Then he came back later and said he’d underestimated a bit. They were giving us 5,000 brand-new balls. Shipping those was going to be a bit of a problem for us because of the cost.”
Andres found out from DHL that the cost would run around $53,000, but the DHL employee Andres spoke to suggested he contact the company’s Atlanta office, that ships directly to Iraq. Andres was subsequently given a price quote of $14,105 to send the soccer balls.
Facing a substantial price tag, Andres contacted American Legion National Headquarters and was put in touch with Past National Commander Ronald F. Conley of Pittsburgh. Conley sought and received approval for a $14,105 donation from the department’s general fund to get the soccer balls sent to the troops and kids. Now, said Conley, the department is looking to its American Legion Baseball program to replenish the contribution.
“We put the money up front, and now we are trying to raise it back,” Conley said. “We felt it was a good match, giving American Legion Baseball players a service project that goes beyond baseball. Kids helping kids. Our national sport helps their national sport.”
Andres contacted Joan M. Cote, CEO and president of USO Delaware, to help set up delivery points for the balls in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanistan. The soccer balls shipped out on Feb. 29, and the first 3,500 landed in Iraq March 4. Some of the balls already have been delivered to Balad-area hospitals.
Rick Davis, AYSO’s national executive director, said his organization was happy to be a part of the effort.
“AYSO pursues its mission of supplying world-class youth soccer programs, based on five simple philosophies,” he said. “The first of these philosophies is ‘Everyone plays,’ and we at AYSO take this very seriously. We believe it applies to all children, not just the ones in the U.S.
“In addition, many of our volunteers are both veterans and active-duty members of the military. We felt that donating these balls at this time would help not only bring some joy to the children of Iraq, but that it would also have a meaningful resonance with our active-duty and veteran members, and volunteers. We all know that the mission our military has in Iraq is not easy. Drew Deighan and the AYSO NSTC staff did a great job in helping to put this together with the other organizations, and if we can somehow, in some small way, help bring a little joy and understanding to that difficult part of the world, then we’re very happy to have done so.”
Andres is still shocked that things progressed as quickly and as successfully as they did.
“It’s amazing how this all came together the way it did,” Andres said. “Everyone really believed in what (Maj. Sandvold) and his fellow soldiers over there are trying to do with the Iraqi children. It could have been very complicated, but things went as smoothly as they could have gone. It was amazing to see.”
