Puentes de Salud, a local non-profit that offers medical and educational services to the local Latino immigrant community in South Philadelphia, will receive $500 worth of soccer equipment for every save made during the Philadelphia Union vs. Orlando City SC game Friday night as part of the Every Save Makes a Difference, ESMD, program ran through MLS WORKS, Allstate and Univision Deportes.
“The Every Save Makes a Difference program generates excitement for the game while benefitting a truly deserving group,” Philadelphia Union Community Affairs and Philadelphia Union Foundation Manager Leah Moore said. “Puentes de Salud does incredible work for the community and we are happy to offer this program to them through MLS, Allstate and Univision Deportes.”
For every MLS match broadcasted on Univision, UniMás or Univision Deportes Network (UDN) in 2016, $500 for every save made during the game will be donated to a Hispanic community group chosen by the home and visiting team. The total amount raised will be announced at the end of every match and the 2015 season accounted for 192 saves with $96,000 dollars distributed among 53 community groups nationwide.
Since its foundation in 2000, Puentes de Salud has offered low cost medical services to the uninsured Latino immigrant community in South Philadelphia. Throughout the years, the organization has expanded to also offer education programs, such as health, children, adult and wellness, and community building activities.
In 2015, Puentes de Salud received the Community Advocate of the Year Award at the Hispanic Choice Awards and in 2016, the organization received the Barra award.
The soccer donations from Friday’s match will go directly to Puentes Hacia El Futuro, a direct subset of Puentes de Salud that focuses specifically on improving the educational achievement of children in the South Philadelphia Latino immigrant community. The Philadelphia Union will personally deliver the donation to Puentes' afterschool program that serves 100 children.
"Puentes de Salud is excited to partner with the Philadelphia Union in our mission of creating rich educational experiences for the children and families of South Philadelphia's Latino community,” Executive Director of Puentes de Salud Dr. Steven Larson said. "It is an honor to have our clinical and community development work recognized by a significant stakeholder in the city of Philadelphia who is likewise committed to the area's success."
In addition to receiving the donations from ESMD, Luis Aguilar, Alma Romero and Irma Zamora from Puentes de Salud will be honored as the hometown heroes during Friday’s match.
The Philadelphia Union will take on Orlando City SC on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on UniMás. A limited amount of tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 877.21.UNION or by visiting philadelphiaunion.com.
