As the San Jose Earthquakes have won their last two matches, a 4-1 exhibition victory over Sporting Club of Portugal on May 12 and a 2-1 win over the Dallas Burn, the team has continued to make an impact in the Bay Area with numerous appearances at local schools and festivals.
The Quakes have always been strong supporters of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and this week Craig Waibel, Todd Dunivant and Wes Hart visited Sunnyvale Middle School and Haman Elementary School respectively as part of the "Pennies For Patients Program."
On Monday, May 17, Waibel and Dunivant took part in a heart-warming event at the Sunnyvale Middle School as the players congratulated the students at the school who had raised over $9,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Sunnyvale was the top fund-raising school in the program, besting 150 other area schools. In addition, the players met with the school's Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Honored Patient, Dezeray. The top fundraising class received a mini-clinic from Waibel and Dunivant as well. The next day, Hart visited Haman Elementary School in Santa Clara to congratulate the students there that raised over $6,000 through the "Pennies For Patients Program".
The Quakes remained active in the schools as Richard Mulrooney visited Cumberland Elementary School in Sunnyvale on Tuesday, May 18 and talked to the students about working hard to accomplish their goals. Mulrooney signed autographs for the kids following his talk.
Earthquakes President & General Manager Alexi Lalas was also part of a special event on May 13 when he attended the REACH Youth Scholarship Breakfast at the San Jose Marriott. Lalas served as the Honoray Co-Chair of the event along with former San Francisco 49er all-star Ronnie Lott.
The Quakes celebrated the Cinco de Mayo holiday by giving back to the community, as forward Brian Ching attended the San Juan Bautista CDC festival on May 5 with the Earthquakes mascot "Q" and signed autographs and met with fans. Newly acquired Quakes midfielder Chris Brown also attended a Cinco de Mayo celebration at San Jose's Taylor Elementary School. Brown met with students and signed autographs.
The annual Bay To Breakers race is always a big deal in the Bay Area, and the Earthquakes were a part of the festivities, sponsoring a team of runners to participate in the race as well as having lovable mascot "Q" make an appearance at the finish line on May 16 in San Francisco.
