The tragedy that took place on 9/11 touched people all around the world in a profound way, especially those connected to the New York community. Knowing the significance of that day, New York Red Bulls midfielder Joe Vide jumped at the opportunity to become a part of the Third Annual Global Charity Day set up by BGC Partners on September 11.
Vide was introduced to the event through fellow Red Bulls teammate Clint Mathis.
"A friend of Clint's works for the company," said Vide. "So given the nature of the event and the fact that dabbling in the market is a hobby of mine, I was happy to be able to fill in for Clint when something came up and he couldn't make it."
BGC Partners is a leading provider of brokerage services to wholesale fixed income, interest rate, foreign exchange and derivative markets worldwide. The event has raised more than $15 million in the last three years and reached more than $6 million this year alone.
From this year's event, 100 percent of the revenues went to charities all around the world in America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Australia, with a large emphasis on charities for children. The Cancer Research Institute in the U.S. and The Multiple Sclerosis Society in the UK were just two of the many charities BGC decided to donate to.
Some of those in attendance other than Vide were New York Yankees legends Yogi Berra and Bernie Williams, former Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Boomer Esiason as well as Oscar winning film star Whoopi Goldberg.
Vide spoke enthusiastically about the fun he had at the event as well as what it meant to pitch in and help generate money for all the good causes involved, especially on a day like 9/11.
"It was great," said Vide. "Everyone there was so helpful; I even got to meet the owner and received a tour of everything."
The highlight of the experience for Vide was helping to close a deal at the end of the day for $35 million.
"You get worried if you are doing everything right, but everyone there was great," said Vide. "I thought it was a lot, but someone told me that [New York Giants quarterback] Eli Manning helped close a deal for about $400 million."
It was an exciting day for Vide as well as everyone else in attendance, but not just because they had fun closing deals. Anyone involved would certainly say the highlight of the event was all of the money that was raised for charities across the world.
"I would definitely be interested in participating again next year," said Vide. "Everyone there was great, it was for a good cause and I had a great time."
Gregg Binder is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
