One of the core tenants of NJFC is that our players give back. During the spring of 2019, our players pulled together and worked to coordinate a tremendous undertaking. In the summer of 2019, the players sent their uniform kits to some fellow players in Uganda, working together with a local church from Hanover Township. The uniforms were delivered to a very special group of players who reside at the St. Francis school for the blind in Madera, Soroti, Uganda. 

The St. Francis school serves the visually impaired in East Africa, who are often abandoned or worse. These children often look to expand their creativity, learn teamwork, blow off steam, and compete by playing soccer.

These amazing players play the beautiful game, without the gift of sight. It was incredible to hear about the Uganda players, their love for the game, and the clever methods they use to compete. We are proud to have these fellow players wear our jerseys. These players are the embodiment of a sign displayed at the school, “disability is not inability”.

Meanwhile, our players learned a great life lesson in the process. As a good friend of the program has said, “while many people get attached to the material things which bring good memories of victory, friendship, passion, and hard work, (our players) discovered that it is even more important that we learn that life is not about storing things, but making lifetime memories.”

During the fall of 2019, we pulled together again and worked to coordinate another tremendous undertaking. In the fall of 2019, the players collected and sent their uniform kits to some fellow players in Columbia, working together with a local church from Hanover Township. The uniforms were delivered to a special group of Columbian players who reside in Santa Rosa de Osos and Quadalupe, Huila.

The program delivered the jerseys to some local youth players, in both locations, provided them with soccer balls, and finished with a meal to top off their hard play.

Our players continue to learn a great life lesson while taking part in this activity.