The San Jose Earthquakes will be honoring the Armed Forces at their Second Annual Salute to Armed Forces Day on Saturday, July 11 when they host Toronto FC at Buck Shaw Stadium. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet California.
The day will feature tributes to all branches of the military, beginning with a pre-game ceremony honoring all active and inactive military, veterans and their families. The Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard will also have an on-site presence at the game. Children of military families will participate in pre-game ceremonies.
All military members will be able to purchase discounted tickets to the game and those in attendance will receive a commemorative San Jose Earthquakes Salute to Armed Forces military commemorative challenge coin. Season ticket holders will be able to get involved in the day by donating their tickets to the troops and their families through an Earthquakes ticket exchange program. All season ticket holders interested in participating in the ticket exchange program can send their tickets to the Earthquakes front office at San Jose Earthquakes, ATTN: Salute to Armed Forces Day, 451 El Camino Real, Suite 220, Santa Clara, CA 95050. To purchase tickets or receive more information, call 1-877-QUAKES-01 or log onto sjearthquakes.com.
Operation: Care and Comfort will be on site, collecting donations at each gate. Operation: Care and Comfort is one of 53 home front groups in California, the state with the most America Supports You groups in the country. Twenty-three of these California-based groups have joined ASY within the last year. Some of the most requested items are; beef jerky, microwavable meals, soup, (no pork please), Mach III Razors and cartridges, dental supplies, CDs and DVDs, AA and AAA batteries and AT&T phone cards.
"I can't tell you how grateful the troops and their families are for the support from the San Jose Earthquakes," stated Julie DeMaria, Co-founder of Operation: Care and Comfort. "By partnering with Operation: Care and Comfort, we support our deployed troops with items and money collected, and local military families are also able to attend a San Jose Earthquakes game free or at a discounted price. You can't beat that combination!"
OPERATION: CARE AND COMFORT
Since April 2003, the all-volunteer Operation: Care and Comfort program, unique to the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of American Red Cross, has shipped 200 tons of care packages for distribution to Marine, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard personnel deployed in conflict regions. Adopted military units receive care packages monthly, until they return home. Operation Care and Comfort is a member of the Department of Defense's "America Supports You" program. For more information on how you can support this worthy program, please visit
www.operationcareandcomfort.org
.
