The ultimate goal of Charity Ball is "to get every kid around the world who loves the game of soccer, their very own new, quality soccer ball," says founder Ethan King.
Fifteen-year-old Ethan King has a passion for soccer. So does Continental Tire the Americas LLC. King founded a foundation called Charity Ball. Continental is supporting it.
King started the foundation following a trip to Mozambique, Africa, with his father. Then 10 years old, he left his soccer ball with the local children.
"I saw that the balls they had previously been using were basically just trash bags wrapped up with twine,” he says. “As I watched the kids play, it was hard for me to think that I would be heading back to the States where I had several soccer balls in my garage just sitting there. These kids in this village had none.
"I thought to myself, these kids would enjoy this soccer ball far more than me. So, I walked over and presented my ball as a gift. After coming back to the states after the trip, I kept replaying that scene in my mind and decided I wanted to do more and keep giving new, quality soccer balls to kids in need of them.”
In the last five years, his foundation has delivered 4,500 new soccer balls to kids in 22 developing countries.
Continental, the official tire of Major League Soccer (MLS), the U.S. Soccer Federation and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, recently donated 1,000 Adidas soccer balls to Charity Ball.
"What Ethan has done in five short years is amazing,” says Travis Roffler, Continental’s director of marketing.
"Taking his passion for the game of soccer and turning that into a successful cause marketing campaign at just 10-years-old is commendable. We’re proud to support Ethan and Charity Ball and hope that others will do the same.”
The 1,000 balls donated by Continental will help King reach his dream of providing a new soccer ball to every child around the world who loves the game.
