In November, we celebrated Native American Heritage Month, got our hands dirty with EarthGen at Chinook Middle School, and flipped Giving Tuesday on its head with RAVE Foundation! Read more about our social impact efforts last month.
Native American Heritage Month
In November, we celebrated Native American Heritage Month! For the second consecutive year, we teamed up with our partners at the **Burke Museum** of Natural History and Culture Heritage to shine a light on the history, artistry, and cultures of modern-day tribes. Located on the University of Washington campus, the Burke Museum is the Washington state museum responsible for maintaining collections of natural history and cultural heritage. Through relationship-building, consultation and collaboration with tribes, the museum strives to share exhibits that are accurate in their interpretation and storytelling, bringing to the forefront Native expertise and knowledge, as well as appropriately preserving and providing access to Indigenous artifacts.
“We’re excited to be partnering once again with Sounders FC so that more Washington residents have the opportunity to explore our collections, gain greater understanding of tribal cultures and, just as importantly, learn how tribes continue to be living, thriving cultures,” said Polly Olsen (Yakama), the Burke’s tribal liaison and director of DEAI & decolonization.
To provide the opportunity for all to access the Burke Museum to learn about the region’s Native American heritage as well as the dynamic cultures of the Pacific Northwest and around the world, the Rave Green and the Burke Museum hosted Sounders FC Day on Sunday, November 13 by offering free admission to anyone wearing a Sounders FC gear. Additionally, the first 100 youth visitors received a free soccer ball, courtesy of RAVE Foundation!
Seattle Sounders FC and Intentionalist also encouraged fans to visit Off the Rez Cafe, Seattle’s first Native food truck and café, owned by Mark McConnell and Cecilia Rikard. On November 13, fans who visited Off the Rez Café took advantage of a free order of Indian Tacos or Sweet Fry Bread, courtesy of Sounders FC x Intentionalist.
Giving Tuesday
With RAVE Foundation, we celebrated Giving Tuesday — a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world — by giving back to RAVE’s target communities in the form of free soccer balls, Sounders FC swag bags and grocery cards. Giving Tuesday, an annual celebration taking place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States, aligns with our mission to bring play equity to youth in Washington through its Defend the Right to Play social justice arena for change.
Together with generous volunteers and with the support of Sounders FC fans, RAVE Foundation gave back to the Yesler, Beverly Park Elementary and Bow Lake Elementary communities! We distributed over 500 soccer balls, grocery cards and swag to kids and local families from every community.
EarthGen Fall Day of Service
Sounders FC U-17 and U-15 Academy players, Academy staff, and our Ticket Sales & Service team led our Fall Day of Service project with EarthGen, to helping plant 250 trees and shrubs at Chinook Middle School in SeaTac. Chinook Middle School has a population of 712 students, made up of 48% female students and 52% male students, with a minority enrollment of 90%. The school enrolls 77% economically disadvantaged students every year.
This collaborative project with our partners at EarthGen aligns with our commitment to Protect Our Planet, with an emphasis on youth most affected by environmental injustice.
