“When I was really young my mom used to bring me to help out with my grandmother who helped me a lot growing up. She fostered that, helping others, into me at a young age,” explained Carr.

“She also fostered into me some of the ideas of social justice. Those principles are what I learned first and as I got older I became able to do more.”

Carr, who was named the MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Month for April, is an Oakland, California native who grew up watching the Oakland Athletics, an organization he truly admired for how active their players were in California’s Bay Area.

“I remember being a big fan of the Oakland Athletics when I was a kid; I idolized the guys on the team. I remember Dave Stewart did a lot in the community and I really looked up to him for it,” said Carr.

“I think that being a professional athlete, it makes it a little easier to reach out to the kids because they are a little more attentive to what you have to say.“

As someone who enjoys spending time with the children and works with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Carr has been able to get other members of the Dynamo on board with the on-site tutoring program.

“Once a week you go and hang out with your Little Brother or Little Sister and that’s been really great so far. We currently have 15 people from the Dynamo’s front office, including Chris Canetti our team president, who go and be Big Brothers and Big Sisters,” described Carr.

“He [Canetti] has allowed all of the front office to go and help out when they can during the week and the time that they spend there doesn’t have to come out of their lunch hour and it won’t be held against them, so he really encourages them to help out.”

Drafted 10^th overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, Carr is very grateful for where he is at in life. He continues to spread positivity into the lives of today’s youth and works with them as much as he can.

“I like hanging around the kids. For me, helping out the kids is something that I wanted to do because I really enjoy it. I love their spirit and curiosity and their positivity. It reminds me of what it was like to be that age and makes me understand that people need a positive role model,” stated Carr.

Being recognized for the work that you do throughout the community is always great, but it’s never the reason why you do it. You do it so you can try to change the lives of others and help spread the positivity so that others will follow in your footsteps and become active as well. Carr is thankful for being recognized and everything that the fans do for him and the entire MLS, but he wants to make sure that his actions are recognized for all the right reasons, and that’s getting others in the community to become proactive.

“I would really like to see in the next year is a lot of the fans and members of the community become Big Brothers or Big Sisters if they can. They’ve really done a great job coming to the events and helping me raise money, but I would really love to see if a lot of them can help out that way as well.”

Calen Carr and the Houston Dynamo continue to make a difference in the community anyway that they can. Through their various team and player programs, they continue to keep the fans happy through their efforts on and off the field. With the amount of players on the Dynamo that have their own program, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another member of the Dynamo get recognized for a future MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Month Award.

“From a very, very young age, my mom and one of my aunts always worked with low-income families and high crime rate communities,” mentioned the Coronado, California native. “They would give them anything from food to clothing and spent time with the kids, so my earliest memory of giving back would have to be when I was about 10-years-old helping them with that.”

As someone who comes from a family that stresses the importance of helping others, the Sounders FC midfielder ended up with an organization that stresses the same thing amongst their players. Always doing something to give back to the community or finding a way to say thank you to their fans, the Sounders are one of the tops teams in the MLS when it comes to showing appreciation in the community.

“I think it’s incredible what the Sounders do. The outreach program here is amazing,” said Carrasco. “They provide us with great opportunities to help the community through organizations like the Boys and Girls Club.”

“The guys have been incredible when it comes to being positive role models for the kids and they take advantage of the opportunities they get presented with.”

Servando Carrasco was named the MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Month for October for the work that he did in the community to raise awareness towards breast cancer; something that has hit him personally. Servando’s mother Gloria was given a clean bill of health after her five-year checkup in November, after being diagnosed with breast cancer during his time at the University of California-Berkley.

Although Servando has been working with the Susan G. Komen Foundation since his rookie season last year, he wanted to get approval from his mother first before he brought attention to her fight.

“They asked me if I wanted to do something and of course my first reaction was to ask my mom to see if she wanted to do something with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and after she gave me the green light it was an incredible experience,” described Carrasco.

“To have her up here and take part in the race, it was very emotional and I’m very thankful for the organization for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it and give back to others who are going through what my mother went through.”

The members of the Sounders do a lot in the community. In fact, with Carrasco being named the Humanitarian of the Month for October he became the fifth different Sounders player to earn the honors, the most of any team in Major League Soccer since they started presenting the award in 2010. Despite being the ones that go out into the community day after day, Carrasco and the Sounders players credit the director of community outreach, Sandy Gregory, for helping the team to contribute to the Seattle community.

“Working with the Susan G. Komen Foundation is something that came out of nothing to be honest,” said Carrasco. “Sandy, the director of the outreach program with the Sounders, came up to me and asked me if I wanted to be a part of it because she knew that my mom was a survivor of breast cancer,” he continued.

“I definitely wanted to be a part of it, but I wanted to make sure my mom was ok with it because it is her story and she is the one who went through the battle. As soon as she told me yes, we went forward with it and were involved in a lot of the planning and the event in general and it was an amazing event and I’m glad we did it as a family and that Sandy gave me the opportunity to be a part of it.”

With the help of Carrasco’s 82-member team that raised over $6,300, a total surpassing $1.1 million was raised towards breast cancer awareness and research at the 2012 event in Seattle.

Aside from working in the community to help raise awareness for breast cancer, Carrasco has also appeared at several of the club’s summer camps and has worked regularly in the United We Serve program.

“For me, I feel like we have a responsibility given the position that we are in and we can help encourage these kids to make the right decisions and stay on the right path and stay in school,” said the 24-year-old. “I love getting involved with the kids and going to the Boys and Girls Club and spending the day there, whether it be helping them with their homework or playing dodgeball with them like we did last time,” he chuckled.

“To give them that attention that they might not get in their household really makes a difference and goes a long way. The kids are the future so if we can make a positive impact right now I think that it can go a long way for them in the long run.”

Working in the community with the children is something that the veterans in the MLS have taught the rookies since the beginning. James Riley, currently playing for Chivas USA, was a member of the Sounders from 2009 until 2011. He was very active within the community and taught his teammates how to be a pro both on and off the field. Carrasco believes that Riley played a major role on the team when it comes to getting them out into the community and helping children and it’s something that they continue to do, even though Riley is no longer with the team.

“He [James Riley] really opened up the door for future players to get involved with the Boys and Girls Club and I think that it is something that a lot of guys have taken advantage of to help make an impact on these kids’ lives. Even if it’s just an hour that we get to spend with them, guys are always jumping on the opportunity of helping out and spending time with the kids.”

Servando has also been involved in the Sounders FC’s Hispanic outreach since joining the club in the second round of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. He spent his childhood living in Tijuana, Mexico, where he learned to develop his soccer skills to become the player that he is today. After spending his childhood there, Carrasco hopes to one day go back to his former hometown to give back to the children who need and deserve the help.

“In the future I want to do something with soccer in Tijuana. I want to give something back to where I came from. I want there to be a place for youth to play soccer and develop their personal skills on and off the field, that’s my vision,” explained Carrasco.

“I know it’s going to take a long time, but I know in maybe 10 or 15 years I definitely would like to use my time to develop a soccer program that will help them develop skills, not just in the aspect of playing, but the life lessons that can be learned as well through the game of soccer and I just hope to one day have the resources to accomplish that someday,” he elucidated.

Servando continues to serve the Seattle community as much as he can. At the young age of 24 and just two seasons into his professional career, there’s no telling what he will be able to accomplish in years to come.

To learn more about the Susan G. Komen Foundation, visit http://ww5.komen.org/

To learn more about the Boys & Girls Club of America, visit http://www.bgca.org/Pages/index.aspx

To learn more about United We Serve, visit http://www.serve.gov/

To learn more about MLS W.O.R.K.S., visit http://www.mlssoccer.com/mlsworks

The newly found partnership will see the Galaxy support yearlong sports programs facilitated by development staff, donate a multi-use Sport Court and equipment and refurbish the club’s Learning Center. The Learning Center, which was revealed by the team and club last Wednesday, featured new carpets, chairs, tables and bookshelves, as well as new books, a Panasonic TV and an Xbox 360 console donated by Xbox. The refurbish also featured a mural by Code 4.

In addition to the announcement and unveiling of the Learning Center, Galaxy players were also involved with coaching and instructing numerous events and games with the children of the Boys and Girls Club and sat down with the kids to learn a bit about them and just give them a chance to laugh and share stories with some of Major League Soccer’s best players.

The Galaxy, who arguably are the most popular team in Major League Soccer due to their continuous success, proceed to solidify their relevance in American sport culture not just through their constant performance on the pitch, but through their outreach within their community and aim at a lasting relationship with their supporters.

“I think it’s just our responsibility in the community and the soccer is very much secondary,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena told MLSsoccer.com. “If we can have an impact on the lives of young kids, we want to be part of that.”

MLS W.O.R.K.S. hosts multiple events throughout the year for multiple different causes and works to make people healthier and happier and benefit those who are less fortunate. This partnership between the LA Galaxy and Boys and Girls Club of Carson is an example of effective community development starting with the minds that need molding. The soccer related improvements to the Club and the yearlong events that will be taking place in the future are not solely to grow the game, but to give kids a positive surrounding and the motivation needed to achieve their academic and lifestyle goals.

“When the league was founded, we wanted to create what we called a “soccer nation” in America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told MLSsoccer.com. “In order to do that, you have to have great teams, great players, but to really be a sports league that matters, you have to have programs like MLS W.O.R.K.S.”

To learn more about MLS W.O.R.K.S. visit: http://www.mlssoccer.com/mlsworks

To learn more about the LA Galaxy Foundation, visit http://www.lagalaxy.com/community/foundation

Major League Soccer is committed to supporting the communities where we live and play our games, and to providing an environment in which our staff, clubs, players, partners and supporters are treated with dignity.

Through Don’t Cross the Line, MLS W.O.R.K.S. is hoping that with the help from MLS players and MLS clubs, people everywhere will stop crossing the line and start treating everyone equally and with the respect that they deserve as a human being.

Several MLS players joined MLS W.O.R.K.S. to film a public service announcement that is running on local, regional and national broadcasts, as well as in all the stadiums throughout the rest of the season urging fans…Don’t Cross the Line. Dwayne De Rosario, Kyle Beckerman, Landon Donovan, Graham Zusi, Carlos Valdes and Chris Pontius all got together to take part in the public service announcement to help spread the word of Don’t Cross the Line and to get a positive message across to fans everywhere.

They all took the pledge, now it’s your turn.

For more information on Don’t Cross the Line, visit http://www.mlssoccer.com/mlsworks/dontcrosstheline

Gatorade and adidas are both collaborating with the MLS for this initiative. All of the matches during the breast cancer awareness campaign will be played with a commemorative pink adidas PRIME match ball and players will use pink sideline towels provided by Gatorade during this time. Both corporate and broadcast partners of the MLS will also be supporting the campaign with field board recognition during select matches.

The players and referees will wear a special pink MLS W.O.R.K.S. ribbon patch on their jerseys, pink adidas sweat bands, pink shoelaces and several goalkeepers will use pink gloves to further support the cause.

MLS will be auctioning off game-worn autographed jerseys and special-edition pink match balls online at www.MLSsoccer.com/mlsworks beginning on October 15 as part of their effort to raise funds for breast cancer research and treatment.

Select retailers throughout North America, including MLS stadium shops, MLSGear.com and MLSGearCanada.ca will be selling limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness adidas products including scarves, sweat bands, hats, t-shirts and replica balls. A portion of the proceeds from fundraising efforts will benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation in the United States and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation in Canada.

The MLS clubs will be doing additional fundraising efforts in their communities, including in-stadium auctions and donating a portion of ticket sales proceeds, and/or hold recognition ceremonies for local survivors during the following home matches:

• Chicago Fire, October 27
• Chivas USA, October 7
• Colorado Rapids, October 6
• Columbus Crew, October 7
• D.C. United, October 20
• FC Dallas, October 28
• Houston Dynamo, October 6 and 20
• LA Galaxy, October 6 and 28
• Montreal Impact, October 27
• New England Revolution, October 20
• New York Red Bulls, October 6
• Philadelphia Union, October 6 and 27
• Portland Timbers, October 27
• Real Salt Lake, October 27
• San Jose Earthquakes, October 21
• Seattle Sounders FC, October 21
• Sporting Kansas City, September 28
• Toronto FC, October 6
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC, October 3

For more information on Soccer Kicks Cancer, visit http://www.MLSsoccer.com/mlsworks/soccer-kicks-cancer

For more information on MLS W.O.R.K.S., visit http://www.MLSsoccer.com/mlsworks

De Rosario is an ambassador for multiple organizations aimed to benefiting the lives of the less fortunate not only in North America but also around the world.  During visits to Mali and West Africa, Dwayne visited villages and clinics delivering life saving bed nets, as well as leading soccer clinics for local children in West Africa. Since then he has multiplied his efforts and has continued to support multiple charities and Malaria prevention causes. A member of the Nothing But Nets campaign and its Canadian counterpart Spread the Net, De Rosario is dedicated to help provide bed nets to African children in efforts to prevent Malaria; which is the single biggest killer of African children under the age of five and accounts for one fifth of all African children’s deaths.

Dwayne is also involved in MLS W.O.R.K.S; a Major League Soccer initiative dedicated to helping youth by addressing important social issues affecting young people. Through the numerous caps in a Canada jersey and his numerous accomplishments in MLS, De Rosario has not forgotten where he came from. The De Ro Futbol Clinic is based in his hometown of Scarborough, Ontario and it teaches kids the fundamentals to not only become a good soccer player, but a good human being as well. The program created by De Rosario provides children with certain skills needed to be a sufficient player on the pitch and the day-to-day qualities needed in everyday life including fitness, health and money management.

An ambassador to the United Nations, Dwayne is also a part of Right to Play; a charity dedicated to helping children in some of the most disadvantaged areas in the world through the power of sport, love and peace. Other athletes involved with Right to Play include Jose Calderon of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and Alexander Ovechkin of the NHL’s Washington Capitals.

Dwayne De Rosario has been the male Canadian Player of the Year four times in the last five years, has received the Goal of the Year Award twice, was the 2008 MLS Cup MVP and has scored close to 100 goals in Domestic League play. He is a member of countless charities and has donated a lot of his time and money to support and benefit the less fortunate and is a superstar that is willing to shine his light in some of the darkest areas in our world.

To learn more about Spread the Net, visit http://www.spreadthenet.org/

To learn more about Nothing But Nets, visit http://www.nothingbutnets.net/

To learn more about Right to Play, visit http://www.righttoplay.com/International/Pages/Home.aspx

To learn more about the De Ro Futbol Clinic, visit http://www.derofutbol.com/default.aspx

The It Gets Better Project was created in 2010 in order to show young LGBT people the different levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives can and will reach as long as they can get through their teen years. The main purpose of the It Gets Better Project is to show young teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone and that things WILL get better from here on in.

With many celebrities, major corporations, and regular everyday people stepping in and making webcasts to show their support for the It Gets Better Project; they have now reached nearly 175,000 followers on their Facebook and almost 20,000 followers on their Twitter account. With Sean Avery being one of the first athletes in today’s world of sports to stand up for same-sex marriage, organizations are slowly starting to follow in his footsteps. The San Francisco Giants released their own It Gets Better video to help kick off Pride Month; making them the first sports organization to stand up for the cause and stand behind the LGBT community. The video features Giants players Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Andres Torres and Sergio Romo, as well as Giants hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Muelens as they all got together to spread the It Gets Better message in English, Spanish and Japanese.

Although Sean Avery didn’t show his support through an It Gets Better video, the support is still much appreciated by the LGBT community. The one player that everyone made out to be such a bad person because of his on-ice antics is showing everyone a different side to him. Due to the way Sean Avery acts on the ice people have stereotyped him and have assumed nothing but the worst about the guy; kind of like the LGBT community and how they receive many stereotypes because of their sexual orientation. With more and more celebrities standing up for the LGBT community every day, they should have a majority of the sports world standing behind them in no time. Through the It Gets Better Project, they have managed to help out other organizations and causes that are similar to theirs. They are benefactors of The Trevor Project and GLSEN and support the ACLU LGBT Project.

The Trevor Project focuses on ending suicide among LGBT youth by providing them with life-saving and life-affirming resources which includes a nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community, and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe and positive environment for all.

GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) focuses on ensuring safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. They work to convince education leaders and policymakers that they need to address anti-LGBT behaviour throughout the schools so it becomes a safer environment for kids to learn and interact with others.

The ACLU LGBT Project is an organization that works to create an America free from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender expression, or HIV status through impact litigation, public education, and advocacy. They help students stand up against discrimination, harassment, and censorship.

With the It Gets Better Project getting bigger and bigger every single day with more and more supporters coming on board each day, the LGBT community should have the support of most athletes and organizations by summer’s end. Sometimes all it takes is one person to start a movement and that’s exactly what happened with the It Gets Better Project.

To learn more about the It Gets Better Project or to make your own It Gets Better video, visit http://www.itgetsbetter.org/pages/about-it-gets-better-project/

To learn more about The Trevor Project, visit http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

To learn more about GLSEN, visit http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

To learn more about the ACLU LGBT Project, visit http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/youth-schools

Primeau, known for his status as a power forward and fighter while in the NHL is now raising concussion awareness not for his own sake, but to keep kids that are playing both hockey and football aware of the severity of concussions and just how fragile our brains can be. The goal is to re-direct players’ mindsets in allowing them to realize that after receiving a big hit or shot to the head, it’s okay to take proper precaution in assessing your mental health.

Kerry Goulet, a former hockey player who too battled concussions; former NHLers Mike Van Ryn and Jim Thompson; former Saskatchewan Roughrider and current Chicago Bear Andy Fantuz; Women’s Hockey gold medalist Tessa Bonhomme; and former National team soccer player Jason De Vos all joined Keith Primeau at the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday to spread the word.

The website will inform coaches, players and most importantly parents on the dangers of concussions and how to prevent further severity if a player in fact suffers one. As a minor league coach, Primeau has a first-hand look at what is happening in minor league hockey.

“The parent who when their kid gets hit and I have him sitting on the bench, comes and taps on the glass behind me and says ‘Get him back out there,’” he said in an interview with the Toronto Sun. “And here I am still waiting to assess whether he’s in a position to return to play because it’s not that important to me that he get right back on the ice.”

Keith Primeau is reminded every day of the brain damage he has received due to the amount of concussions he has suffered. He has learned to accept the consequences but is not willing to watch athletes feel the need to play and put themselves in more harm than they think. If there is anyone who should be able to put in their input into such a hot topic as of late, whom better than someone that has been there and lives with the effects every day.

To learn more about concussions, visit www.stopconcussions.com

Seth Stammler, former member of the MLS’s New York Red Bulls and the winner of 2010 MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year Award, has recognized all of the situations that are going on in Haiti and is doing whatever it takes to help change the country. He started up the Sporting Chance Foundation in 2007 after his first trip to Haiti in 2006 where he helped out with Yele Haiti, the Foundation created by Haitian born rap-star Wyclef Jean. Stammler and some of his Haitian born teammates, Jozy Altidore and Jerrod Laventure, took part in a number of soccer clinics with underprivileged youths and children from a local orphanage. Aside from playing soccer, they conducted a number of clothing distributions, which included passing out gently used clothes that were collected back at home in the United States.

When Stammler witnessed that the people in Haiti struggle for some of the most basic necessities, he made the decision to pursue water wells as one of the primary initiatives of Sporting Chance Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those living in Haiti. They have decided to help build wells in the most accessible locations throughout Haiti since both the fully capable and the crippled were travelling for 15 miles to find clean, useable water for their families. Each well will provide nearly 10,000 people with water and will hopefully help put a stop to water-borne illnesses and make a noticeable impact immediately.

Aside from the lack of necessities in Haiti, Stammler also realized the children’s love for learning and saw how badly they wanted to go to school. With education being introduced into the community, the kids of Haiti are hoping to use their education to turn their lives around and maybe one day become a community leader, rather than being a gang member for the rest of their lives considering that the gangs in Haiti provide more resistance and have a strong hold on the community.

Stammler has won the team Humanitarian of the Year Award four times and also helps out around his own community. He helps out at his local YMCA where he participates in clinics for underprivileged children throughout the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, as well as his native Ohio. Aside from helping out around his own community and helping with his own charity, Seth Stammler also helps out and donates his time to Athletes for Charity.

Other athletes, such as Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins and Jason Collins of the Atlanta Hawks, have jumped on board with Sporting Chance Foundation because the athletes know just as well as we do, nothing can be done alone so the more that decide to lend a helping hand for problem, the more of a chance we have to change more people’s lives.

To find out more about Sporting Chance Foundation, visit http://www.sportingchancefoundation.org/about.php.

To find out more about Athletes for Charity, visit http://www.athletesforcharity.com/about_us.php.

Here is the video that they put together to help spread the word.

To find out more about the website, visit http://are-athletes-obligated.org/category/are-not-obligated/

To find out more about Athletes For Hope, visit http://www.athletesforhope.org/