Monica McPherson of the Red Fury passionately supports Phoenix Rising FC as well as the refugee kids at the North Phoenix Christian Soccer Club. (Photo courtesy Ashley Orellana)
PHOENIX On a hot summer afternoon, bags full of soccer equipment, clothing and shoes covered the floor of Monica McPhersons garage, awaiting the arrival of a special group of kids from the North Phoenix Christian Soccer Club.
Since January 2019, a Phoenix Rising FC supporters group called the Red Fury has helped provide thousands of dollars worth of soccer gear, food and clothing for refugee children and families connected to the NPCSC.
In August, McPherson, a founding member of the Red Fury, helped launch an online campaign called Hooligans With Heart COVID Edition.
The campaign furthered the Red Fury and the NPCSCs mission to help refugee kids feel at home in the US by connecting them with soccer, according to its website.
Hooligans With Heart combined an online auction with old-fashioned hand-to-hand collection methods to raise money and solicit donations of much-needed soccer equipment for the kids at the NPCSC.
Members of the Red Fury, Phoenix Rising players and the public at large chipped in to make the campaign a success.
One anonymous donor made a cash donation of $1,000.
Todd Ring, owner of Forever True Tattoo in Phoenix, contributed a $300 gift certificate.
Rising goalkeeper Eric Dick donated four pairs of autographed goalkeepers gloves for the auction.
I reached out to Monica because Red Fury, she and everyone in this club (Phoenix Rising) have huge hearts, Dick said. Theyre always looking for stuff like this, always looking for ways to impact the community, especially during these tough times.
Refugees playing for the North Phoenix Christian Soccer Club are able to enjoy their sport thanks to fundraising campaigns like the Red Furys Hooligans With Heart. (File photo by Jojo Huckeba/Cronkite News)
Rising forward Junior Flemmings donated items that included footwear, a signed polo shirt and a signed travel jacket.
McPherson said donations poured in throughout the two-week long campaign.
At one point, trash bags full of donated items covered the floor of McPhersons garage, waiting for volunteers from the NPCSC to retrieve them and distribute them to the grateful kids and their families.
An NPCSC volunteer eventually arrived with five boys from the club to collect some of the gear, leading to a poignant scene in McPhersons garage.
The boys were brothers, refugees from the Republic of Burundi in Africa, whose father passed away in June.
McPherson had deliberately held aside the footwear donated by Flemmings, hoping that by chance the shoes would fit one of the boys.
After a few tries, McPherson said it was almost like Cinderella when the Rising stars donated gear made a comfortable fit on one of the delighted youngsters feet.
Theyre so grateful for anything, because they have nothing, McPherson said.
Myles Grunewald has served as a volunteer coach and administrator for the North Phoenix Christian Soccer Club since shortly after its founding in 1975.
Grunewald began helping children in need decades ago, when he served in the US military in Korea and he and his wife adopted an orphaned infant Korean girl.
From 2005 to 2018, Grunewald said, he and his wife used nearly their entire 401(k) about $400,000 just to keep the club going.
Myles Grunewald, left, and Alondra Ruiz have served as volunteers at the North Phoenix Christian Soccer Club for more than 15 years. (Photo courtesy of Alondra Ruiz)
In addition to coaching the under-18 boys team, Grunewald can be found most days in one of the clubs three 15-passenger vans, transporting children to practice, games, and church, according to the NPCSC website.
Currently, the NPCSC directly funds and operates seven teams, boys and girls, ages 6 to 20 close to 110 kids in total, nearly all of whom are refugees.
The current NPCSC registry includes players from 11 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, Syria and Tanzania.
Many of the refugee families would face religious persecution, and even death, if they remained in their home countries.
Grunewald detailed the arduous journey many of the kids and their families endured prior to arriving in the Valley.
Long-standing provincial tension in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo led to armed conflict that destroyed the homes and livelihoods of some families.
Other families belong to religious minorities in their native lands and lived in fear of discrimination, persecution and even execution prior to fleeing their homes.
Some faced famine and simply fled in hope of improving their chances of survival.
In some cases, the United Nations stepped in to assist families in relocating to the United States often a drawn-out, multistep process.
Some families were relocated to Canada, Mexico or Europe prior to moving to the US, and then stopped for a time in the city that served as their port New York or Los Angeles.
Many of the families now supported by the NPCSC lived a nomadic life, sometimes for years with no fixed home, before arriving in Arizona.
Most arrived in Phoenix penniless and with no possessions other than what they carried on their backs.
Grunewald estimates that it takes about $40,000 a year to fund the NPCSC, all of which comes from community donations and contributions.
The NPCSC does not charge its players or their families anything to participate because most of them are just trying to survive, Grunewald said.
The clubs website states that it has operated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization since 2019.
In its 45-year history, the NPCSC has welcomed refugees from over 30 countries, and the club has evolved to the point where it now offers players and their families much more than soccer training and opportunities to play competitive matches.
The NPCSC provides its players with transportation to and from games, all needed equipment, meals, family support, tutoring, assistance with education and career planning.
We provide every single thing that the kids need, free of charge, said Alondra Ruiz, the clubs registrar and administrator.
Ruiz has served as a volunteer for the NPCSC for more than 16 years. Shes also a liaison between Grunewald at the NPCSC and McPherson at the Red Fury.
When Monica called about a year ago, she said, What can I do, how can I help? And she started collecting clothes for the kids, Ruiz said.
McPherson later informed Ruiz that she wanted to do a larger fundraiser for the NPCSC and the Hooligans With Heart campaign followed soon after.
Ruiz noted that the tough times associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a significant reduction in funding for the club and called it a blessing that McPherson and the Red Furys Hooligans With Heart campaign have helped fill the recent void.
Her heart is just amazing, Ruiz said of McPherson. Shes a beautiful person. I cant do the soccer club without people like her.
Since its founding in 1975, the NPCSC has provided soccer training and equipment for hundreds of Phoenix-area refugee kids and, by extending support to their families, has influenced thousands in the local refugee community.
Success stories of former NPCSC players show the positive effect the club has had on the Valleys refugee community over the years.
Grunewald spoke of former players who have built on their experience at the NPCSC, earned college degrees and enjoyed success as doctors, lawyers and professionals in the local community.
One former player, who currently studies medicine at the University of Arizona, intends to return to his birth country upon graduation the same country he was forced to flee at an early age. He wants to be a doctor to his people, Grunewald said.
Years after playing at the NPCSC, several former players have returned to the club as coaches, administrators and volunteers.
As a professional soccer player, Dick recognizes the impact he and his Rising teammates can have on the lives of the current crop of soccer-loving kids at NPCSC, especially with help from Hooligans With Heart and similar programs.
Its part of our job to give back to society, to give back to those that love the game as much as us, but just maybe need a little bit of help, Dick said. And for those kids with aspirations to play professional soccer, he added, Anything I can do to help them get to that point, Im going to do it.
Follow Cronkite News: Phoenix Sports on Twitter.
Read this article:
Hooligans With Heart: Phoenix Risings Red Fury fan club reaches out to refugees - Cronkite News
- Jaden Hill is LSU's ace pitcher who has a bigger calling in life: 'I'm chosen to help people' - The Advocate - February 19th, 2021
- Gangland: a book about meth and the people whose lives it touches - The Spinoff - February 17th, 2021
- SA tattoo artist to the stars on taking his skill abroad - News24 - February 14th, 2021
- Memories of dad help make University of Houston's Justin Gorham a rebounding machine - Houston Chronicle - February 11th, 2021
- Tauranga's strongest head to the Highlands - The Bay's News First - SunLive - February 6th, 2021
- Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys Got His Paris Hilton Tattoo Just 3 Week Before They Broke up - Showbiz Cheat Sheet - January 30th, 2021
- 2 Green Country Women Share Stories Through Tattoo Ink; Competing In National Contest - News On 6 - January 30th, 2021
- Gangs? Cliques? Subgroups? Call Them What You Will There've Been 18 (Yes, 18) In The LA Sheriff's Department - LAist - January 22nd, 2021
- Trump's useful thugs: how the Republican party offered a home to the Proud Boys - The Guardian - January 22nd, 2021
- Proud Boys among groups being watched as inauguration approaches. Do they have Northeast Ohio ties? - Akron Beacon Journal - January 20th, 2021
- Who are Proud Boys? The Western chauvinist far-right group explained and what Donald Trump has previously said about them - The Scotsman - January 15th, 2021
- Theyve been hidden too long: Report details Los Angeles Sheriffs deputy gangs and violence toward communities of color - East Bay Times - January 15th, 2021
- Hawaii Proud Boy Charged By DOJ After Raiding US Capitol - Honolulu Civil Beat - January 9th, 2021
- Swimming With My Shirt Off - The New York Times - January 9th, 2021
- How the Internet Reflected on and Coped With the Capitol Attack - Hyperallergic - January 9th, 2021
- The Weekly-ish Mailbag is mailing it in this week. - Off Tackle Empire - December 31st, 2020
- Four months before her wedding, Mary knew it was over - Sydney Morning Herald - December 19th, 2020
- Family, determination and a dream: The Real Woods story - The Stanford Daily - December 16th, 2020
- Skating solo gives me time to study everyone else on the rink - The Globe and Mail - December 16th, 2020
- LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS: Price is Right Live show rescheduled - Goshen News - December 16th, 2020
- Controversial Mom Made One Of Her Twin Toddlers Get A Tattoo For Very Important Reason - BabyGaga - December 11th, 2020
- Mum of twins tattoos one so she can tell them apart leaving mother-in-law fuming - Daily Star - December 11th, 2020
- Farmingtons mayor of 12 years memorializes his experience in tattoo - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press - December 8th, 2020
- Im A Celebrity superfan gets tattoo of Ant and Dec at Gwrych Castle inked onto his thigh - The Sun - December 1st, 2020
- MacAdam: Fascination with Mike Tyson began in Albany - The Daily Gazette - November 27th, 2020
- 'Home town boys' return to Philippi Main Street - The Inter-Mountain - November 20th, 2020
- The Post-Election Proud Boys Meltdown Is Here, and It's Ugly - The Daily Beast - November 12th, 2020
- I just want to be with my friends: how will children cope with being cooped up again in second lockdown? - The Guardian - November 9th, 2020
- 240+ Inspirational & Meaningful One Word Tattoos (2020 ... - November 6th, 2020
- 75+ Best Small Tattoos For Men (2020) - Simple Cool ... - November 6th, 2020
- Tickets for sale in Snohomish County and around the region - The Daily Herald - November 5th, 2020
- Seances, tattoos and the unbreakable bond between Mikaela Mayer and Al Mitchell - ESPN - October 30th, 2020
- Students rediscover their childhood fandoms on TikTok - Daily Northwestern - October 29th, 2020
- Chase Winovich talks playing time, conspiracy theories with Zolak & Bertrand - 98.5 The Sports Hub - October 22nd, 2020
- The Cycle of Punitive Justice Starts in Schools. Eric Butler Is Showing Kids and Teachers How to Break It. - Mother Jones - October 21st, 2020
- The Proud Boys? - SOFREP - October 16th, 2020
- Theatre Alliance to perform outdoor production of Devil Boys from Beyond - Yes! Weekly - October 16th, 2020
- Freshers' Flu - Why My Mum Invented COVID - Cherwell Online - October 10th, 2020
- Who Are the Proud Boys Trump Told To 'Stand Back and Stand By'? - Snopes.com - October 8th, 2020
- Dan Osbornes tattoo shows hes protective of Jacqueline Jossa & the meaning behind Brooklyn Beckhams spoo - The Sun - October 7th, 2020
- When the Proud Boys came to town - The Economist - October 7th, 2020
- The ten essential facts you need to know about BTS's Suga - Film Daily - October 6th, 2020
- 30 Best Neck Tattoos for Boys and Girls - The Best Tattoo ... - September 30th, 2020
- Best 100+ Tattoo Designs For Men and Boys - Youme And Trends - September 30th, 2020
- Who are the Proud Boys, the extremist group Trump named in the debate - Insider - INSIDER - September 30th, 2020
- Fred Perry Will Denounce Proud Boys, But The President Won't - Highsnobiety - September 30th, 2020
- Whats New on Netflix UK & Top 10s: September 30th, 2020 - What's on Netflix - September 30th, 2020
- From the Fields: Soaking it up now | agrinews-pubs.com - Agri News - September 30th, 2020
- Who are the Proud Boys and why did Trump tell them to stand by? - The Irish Sun - September 30th, 2020
- The Giant Proud Boy Rally That Wasn't - VICE - September 28th, 2020
- Dallas Cowboys news: Defense is looking for improvements - Blogging The Boys - September 26th, 2020
- For Australia's military veterans, tattoos are an important reminder of the things they've seen - The Canberra Times - September 26th, 2020
- What is the alt-right group the Proud Boys? - The Sun - September 21st, 2020
- Police investigating after man tried to grab young boy from street - The Northern Echo - September 18th, 2020
- Cowboys news: Reviewing the rookies after the Cowboys season-opener - Blogging The Boys - September 18th, 2020
- Nas makes his latest claim to the throne with King's Disease - NYSMusic - September 18th, 2020
- The Boys Season 2 Episode 4: 20 Easter Eggs And Things You Might Have Missed - GameSpot - September 15th, 2020
- The Boys Season 2 Episode 4: 20 Things You Might Have Missed - GameSpot - September 11th, 2020
- Remembrance of Things Past: A favorite series features a book with a local tie - theday.com - September 11th, 2020
- RCB spinner Adam Zampa speaks of his love for whisky, need to carry microwave on tours - Times Now - September 8th, 2020
- Youth of color disproportionately represented in the justice system - Prescott eNews - September 7th, 2020
- Two "Boogaloo Boys" Allegedly Tried To Supply Weapons To Hamas And Join As Mercenaries - BuzzFeed News - September 6th, 2020
- Sophie Kasaei shows off full sleeve and chest piece in 'tattoo' snap - Heat - September 3rd, 2020
- Failed by the System - Eugene Weekly - September 3rd, 2020
- 'They're going to have to shoot me': A cop's son meets a tragic fate in Morris Township - Morristown Green - September 3rd, 2020
- Youth of color disproportionately represented in the justice system - Cronkite News - September 3rd, 2020
- 2 Boys Arrested In Suspected Attempted Carjacking, Armed Robbery - Patch.com - September 2nd, 2020
- Ask Billboard: Katy Perry's Career Bests, From 'One of the Boys' to 'Smile,' & Every Hot 100 'Idol' Top 10 - Billboard - August 29th, 2020
- This says Jimin's tattoo, it has a very deep meaning - Somag News - August 27th, 2020
- 10 Katy Perry Tattoos and the Meaning of Each - Music Times - August 27th, 2020
- Home and Away Review: Annabelle Stephens joins the cast as Angelos wife - The West Australian - August 26th, 2020
- Listen to this! New releases and livestreams from The Boy Band Project, Broadway Buskers, and Playbill - DC Metro Theater Arts - August 25th, 2020
- LASD gangs: Who are the Compton Executioners? - Los Angeles Times - August 20th, 2020
- Disney adults are the most terrifying people on the planet and they need to be stopped - The Tab - July 15th, 2020
- Blake Shelton Said He Has the 'Crappiest Tattoo' and Fans Get It Wrong - Showbiz Cheat Sheet - July 15th, 2020
- 30 Hand Tattoo Designs for Boys and Girls - thisistattoo.com - September 13th, 2019
- Proud Boys - Wikipedia - September 13th, 2019