Our client, Stripes, donated new soccer nets to nine different youth soccer leagues in and around Corpus Christi and began rehabbing a soccer field as a Field of Dreams for one particular team. The program made sense for the brand and the community, and the timing was ideal with the 2010 World Cup starting that week.

What we didn’t anticipate was the extreme outpouring of gratitude from those who were receiving the donations. The presidents and directors of the soccer leagues that I spoke with to coordinate the donations could not say “thank you” enough and kept telling me that we just didn’t understand what this would mean to their all-volunteer, not-for-profit organizations.

While in Corpus to help with the donations and coordinate media coverage, there were several times when I was literally stunned at the response we got – from parents, from kids, from soccer team coaches and even from the maintenance worker at one of the soccer fields at a city park, who gave one of the most sincere and heart-felt expressions of gratitude, telling us that the impact of this program on the kids would be immeasurable.

It doesn’t get much better than having a seven-year-old little boy walk up to your client, shake his hand and say, “Thank you for the cool new nets for my soccer team.”

On the surface, the client donated soccer nets and some turf for a new field. But what we really did was offer some much-needed financial relief to organizations that often don’t get any breaks; helped lower registration costs next year across the leagues so it’s a bit easier on families with kids who want to play soccer; and made sure thousands of kids, who often see nicer fields when they play “away” games, can take pride in playing on their home fields because they look much nicer.

No big budgets, nothing glamorous or cutting-edge about it. But we sure did find a way to make a mark on our client’s hometown community. Made a mark on me, too – reminded me why I love doing what I do.