Help Support Youth Mentoring with Your Votes in Pepsi Refresh Everything Project

Aug. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- The Bob Emig Foundation is competing to win $250,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Contest to build an all-weather track to support events for the mentoring of youth.  The Foundation is partnering with the new Father McGivney Catholic High School in Glen Carbon, IL, where the track will be built.
The Foundation is focused on continuing the work of the late Bob Emig, who was a coach, mentor, sports writer, fund raiser for youth sports and overall sports enthusiast.  “In addition to my dad’s love for youth sports, he had a vision for a new Catholic high school in Madison County since 1980.  This project will help realize his vision and support his passion for helping youth develop into well rounded adults through healthy sports activities,” Aaron Emig, Founder and President, said.
The Pepsi Refresh Everything Contest lets anyone vote for a contending project. “We need everyone’s help to make my dad’s dream a reality,” says Emig.  It’s easy to vote twice a day.  just go to http://www.refresheverything.com/bobemigfoundation.  Click on Vote for this idea and follow the easy steps.  You can also vote once per day via text message:  Text 101879 to Pepsi (73774).
The all-weather track will provide a venue for a variety of events such as Field Days, Clinics and competition for youth.  The initial focus will be on at-risk youth in the Metro-East and St. Louis area followed by hosting regional and national youth events.
Many sport venues are used sparingly.  The plan is for this venue to be very active beyond high school events, offering area youth and their coaches experiences for the mind and body.  This includes healthy sports competition--field days, track meets--combined with mentoring activities--clinics and life-experience sharing from successful athletes.  To help this great project: just go to http://www.refresheverything.com/bobemigfoundation. Click on Vote for this idea and follow the easy steps.  You can also vote once per day via text message:  Text 101879 to Pepsi (73774).
The Foundation supports the mentoring of youth to help them live abundantly in all aspects of their lives by developing programs that focus on teamwork, sportsmanship and sense of pride and accomplishment, and by funding youth sports teams with equipment, fees and coaching development.
The Foundation has supported a number of area youth organizations including Althoff Catholic High School, BEF Goalbusters (Belleville, IL), Belle Clair Soccer League, Father McGivney Catholic High School, Kirkwood-Webster Junior Football, Meramec Sharks Hockey Club, Queen of Peace School (Belleville, IL), SS. Peter & Paul School (Collinsville, IL), St. John Neumann School (Maryville, IL), St. Louis BlueJAYS Baseball Club, Southern Illinois Tigers Basketball Club and T.B. Gunners Soccer Team (Troy, IL) and many others throughout the area.
It has also partnered with the worldwide “Kick for Nick” campaign which was started to fulfill the dreams of Nicholas Madaras, a Private First Class who was killed in action in Iraq. The Foundation has collected almost 500 soccer balls and 450 shorts and jerseys which have been distributed by Army personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bob was recognized as a leading sports writer in the Metro-East area and a supporter of youth sports activities.  In 2001, he was named to the Illinois High School Basketball Association Hall of Fame for his media contributions throughout the years.  Bob was also a Lifetime Honorary member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.  From 1994 until his death in 2001, Bob worked for the Prairie State Games, Illinois’ largest amateur sports festival, as the Director of Competition.  
He worked as a sports reporter for the Metro-East Journal from 1966 until it closed in 1979.  During his career, he was also a freelance reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KMOX Radio and the Suburban Journals.  He served as the editor for the Redbird Review newspaper in the 1980s.
Bob coached youth baseball, basketball, and soccer, including the Goalbusters, which became one of the Metro-East’s most successful select boy’s teams.  He also coached freshman and JV soccer at Althoff Catholic High School, Belleville, IL.  He originated and ran the Annual Tournament of Champions soccer tournament from 1987 to 2000, raising thousands of dollars for youth teams.  
He served as Athletic Director at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic School, Collinsville, IL, from 1993 to 1998 and also served in the same position previously at St. John Neumann Catholic School, Maryville, IL.

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Bob Emig Foundation supports the mentoring of youth though sports. It develops programs that focus on teamwork, sportsmanship and sense of pride and accomplishment. http://EmigFoundation.org