The Charleston Battery will celebrate and honor local first responders on Saturday, September 8 as they host the second-annual Hometown Heroes Night at MUSC Health Stadium during their match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
All first responders and their families will receive free tickets to the match and 15% of every ticket sold will be donated to the North Charleston Cop Athletic Program (CAP). In addition, the Charleston Battery players will wear special-edition blue jerseys with the North Charleston Police Department patch on the right sleeve.
The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off online via Bidr; all proceeds from the jersey auction will also go to the Cop Athletic Program. Bidding is open beginning now and continuing until 8:30 PM on Saturday, September 8.
“Last year’s Hometown Heroes Night was a great success,” said Charleston Battery President Mike Kelleher. “We raised close to $10,000 for the Charleston 9 Foundation and are hoping to replicate that this year for the Cop Athletic Program.”
CAP offers children in the North Charleston area the opportunity to participate in a variety of extracurricular programs including basketball, lacrosse, powder puff football, karate, spelling bee competitions, and more. The program was started with the goal of inspiring, educating and empowering the young minds within our community with positive, lifelong educational experiences.
North Charleston police officers volunteer their time to organize and run the programs, while donations are used for equipment and transportation. The programs are free to all North Charleston residents 18 and under. CAP is hoping to start a soccer program in the coming years, if funding allows.
“Community outreach is one of the pillars of our organization,” said Kelleher. “If our efforts in the community help give kids in our area the opportunity to play our sport, that’s an added bonus. We’re hoping that when the North Charleston Cop Athletic Program gets their soccer program up and running, they’ll invite us out for a game!”
In addition to the ticket and jersey fundraiser, there will be a halftime competition between local firemen and police on the field and emergency vehicles on the concourse for kids to tour during the match.
The Battery is looking for community support to assist in distributing over 1,000 tickets to local first responders. There are three sponsorship levels available for local businesses to help with the ticket donation. For more information, call 843-971-GOAL.
Tickets for the match on September 8 start at $13 and are available now at https://www.www.charlestonbattery.com. First responders can pick up their complimentary tickets at the Charleston Battery offices Monday through Friday or at will call on the day of the match.
