POSTED: Wednesday December 2nd 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

USOC's Team for Tomorrow Humanitarian Relief Fund Donates to Afghanistan and African Olympic Committees

Team for Tomorrow's most recent activity includes the donation of more than 22,000 items of athletic apparel and equipment to National Olympic Committees in Africa and Fondation Internationale OlympAfrica which will be shipped in early December.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Team for Tomorrow Humanitarian Relief Fund, which was launched by America’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) in 2008, is continuing to make a difference for those in need around the world. Team for Tomorrow’s most recent activity includes the donation of more than 22,000 items of athletic apparel and equipment to National Olympic Committees in Africa and Fondation Internationale OlympAfrica which will be shipped in early December. Also, more than 2,300 sports items were donated to the people of Afghanistan  through Kabul’s Bagram Air Force Base this November.

“This has been an opportunity to connect, establish relationships and friendships and build concrete programs of cooperation between the USOC and respective National Olympic Committees,” said USOC Director of International Strategies Dragomir Cioroslan. “This is significant support that the USOC is giving to the development of sport in Africa and Afghanistan, and it is an expression of commitment that is both meaningful and necessary.”

The following African countries will receive sports apparel and equipment in the December shipment: Guinea, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and other OlympAfrica locations across the continent. Donations include such items as T-shirts, pants, shorts, sneakers, backpacks and volleyballs, which were provided by the USOC and USA Volleyball. These products will be distributed via sea freight by DB Schenker Shipping Service, a globally integrated logistics service program.

The donations are aligned with a USOC initiative to show true commitment to international partnerships, spreading the Olympic Ideals and giving back to those in need. This same initiative has included USOC presence at the International Sports Conference of Africa (CISA), an international seminar attended by National Olympic Committees and international and national sport federations, which works to create and provide programs for sport development in the various countries of Africa.

In the November donation to Afghanistan, more than 2,300 items from the 2008 Olympic Games were given to the youth of Afghanistan via the U.S. Military at Bagram Air Force Base in Kabul. With this donation, the USOC partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Consulate General of Canada and CAP Worldwide, a Denver-based provider of global transportation solutions.

Team for Tomorrow is a humanitarian relief effort through which U.S. athletes and the USOC offer assistance and support to people around the world who are in need, spreading the values and ideals of the Olympic Movement.

Humanitarian relief and assistance have taken place in the form of donations, volunteerism, disaster recovery support, advocacy and other contributions to communities. 

Team for Tomorrow’s first initiative provided 1,000 disaster relief tents to families that lost their homes during the earthquakes that struck China’s Sichuan Province in May 2008. To assist those in need in the United States, 2008 U.S. Olympians and Paralympians donated service hours to Habitat for Humanity after returning from the Games, building houses in partnership with families in their local communities. Hundreds of service hours were donated, including the first-ever “Olympic and Paralympic Build Day with Habitat for Humanity,” which featured Olympic and Paralympic alumni, hopefuls and coaches coming together in the spirit of Team for Tomorrow to help build a house in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“Through Team for Tomorrow, the entire U.S. Olympic Movement is coming together to make a difference in the world,” said 2008 BMX Olympic bronze medalist Donny Robinson, a 2008 Team for Tomorrow Athlete Ambassador. “I’m proud to have represented my country as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, and I’m just as proud to be a part of Team for Tomorrow. This humanitarian fund shows just another way the Olympic Movement is making the world a better place.”

Team for Tomorrow’s 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Athlete Ambassadors will be announced in the coming weeks, as well as details of the 2010 program.

For more information, please contact the USOC Communications Division at (719) 866-4529, or visit www.TeamUSA.org.

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Keywords · USOC · Team for Tomorrow · OlympAfrica · Dragomir Cioroslan

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