#CASLpride

#CASLpride

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first ever #CASLpride social media initiative. We received tons of pictures from many of you showcasing your CASL pride. Our goal is for this hashtag to carry on throughout the summer, into the fall, and beyond? When you are traveling this summer, we'd love to see where you can represent CASL. Are you going to the beach? Going on a trip to Italy? Or road tripping around the country with your family? Wherever you are going, be sure to tweet us pictures and let us know "where in the world is CASL?" 

I finished my CASL career over a decade ago, but I am definitely still proud to be a CASL alum. I have my state cup champion shirts from 1998, that I STILL where. So, I'll be sure to show my pride when I'm out and about this summer. Just because the season may be over, doesn't mean our connection to each other has to stop. You are always a part of CASL year round, and we are proud of that. Show us your #CASLpride all year long!

Here are a few of the pictures that came through the #CASLpride initiative. Be sure to follow us (@CASLnc) on twitter and stay in touch over the summer. 

CASL Families Donate 306 Pounds of Food and Needed Items to the Food Bank

A few weeks ago, we held a week long Food Drive to benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC. We held the kick-off out at WRAL Soccer Center one Thursday night, where CASL players and parents came to donate food and needed items to the drive. In exchange, each donor was offered a 40th Anniversary commemorative t-shirt (sponsored by Pet Mania) to showcase how they are "making assists both on and off the field". 

 Jim Wright, CASL's U15-U18 Girls Program Director, kicked off our food drive by dropping his own food donations into the bins. Car load by car load, and player by player, our bins started to fill up. People even came out of their way just to participate! One young CASL player was on her way to one of her many other commitments, a band recital, and had to swing through to drop off some food and a large box of infant diapers. Whether it was one can or a trunk full of bags, I am extremely grateful for the response of our CASL Community in response to the hunger needs of our community. The bins were left up for the remainder of the week at the Woman's Club Drive office and WRAL Soccer Center.

The trunk of my car on the way to the Food Bank! 

And, I am pleased to report that over the course of ONLY 6 DAYS, you all contributed to 306 pounds of food and needed items (toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, hygiene products) to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. This equates to 257 meals that we are providing those who face hunger in our community. THANK YOU for showing our community that CASL cares, and that together, we can help improve the quality of life in our community. When I dropped off the donation, the Food Bank expressed sincerest gratitude and was surprised by our accumulation! We will be doing other drives this coming year including a school supply drive, so keep an eye out! 

The weigh in: 306 pounds of food

Share your community events with us!

We are excited to continue providing opportunities this spring and summer for you to participate in 40th Anniversary campaign efforts. While we plan to create a sustainable service arm of CASL, this year is special as it is our 40th year. If you are participating in ANY community event, we want to know about. You can email me directly (katharine.kelley@caslnc.com) or you can tweet your service/community effort to us @CASLnc. I hope to be able to join many of you in your efforts, but if we can't, we can find another way to support if it's through awareness or giving you 40th Anniversary T-Shirts for your service team. Just ask! For example, I received a message from one of our CASL coaches who participates annually in the Walk like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). We will support this effort by alerting you all about this effort so you can rally around this cause if you choose or at least see what causes are special to our CASL families.