LS&Co. Unzipped

Welcome to our blog. Here’s where you’ll find a “behind-the-seams” look at what’s going on with Levi Strauss & Co. You’ll hear from a variety of voices, from both inside and outside the company. And you have the chance to share your thoughts. So read on — and weigh in!

Jul 10 2012

Street Smarts

If homeless “street children” were among the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in your city, how would you reach them with what could be life-saving information?

We recently told you how Alliance Ukraine used mobile clinics during Euro 2012 to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among soccer fans attending championship games.

But they didn’t stop there.

The Alliance organized a  "Street Stars" mini-soccer tournament right in the middle of Kiev’s Euro 2012 "European Village,” targeting homeless and underserved children. The tournament was organized with help from 20 volunteers and funding by the Levi Strauss Foundation. As you see in the image above, UNICEF provided the children's uniforms. 

Boys weren’t the only ones who joined in the fun. More than half the players on some teams were girls—sending an important message about equality to everyone.

“There was also a team composed of social workers and another one of Alliance Ukraine staff,” Kostiantyn Pertsovskyi told us, “but the children played so well that they defeated both of the adult teams.”

Volodya, a 12-year-old so-called “street kid” from Odessa summed it up well:  “We are so happy to be here during Euro-2012 championship, visiting the official Euro 2012 fan-zone and, what is the most important, playing football ourselves."

And while soccer was the draw, sprinkled between kicks and goals, social workers and Alliance Ukraine educated the kids on healthy living and HIV/AIDS.

Two Ukrainian TV stations reported on the tournament, helping increase public awareness about the street children’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

As for the recent Euro 2012 mobile clinics project, more than volunteers affected by HIV/AIDS held important conversations with more than 800 soccer fans about the importance of HIV prevention and ending stigma and discrimination.

Spain may have prevailed in Euro 2012, but those who learned about HIV/AIDS prevention and acceptance for all may have scored an even larger, personal victory.

Posted By: Brandee Butler, Levi Strauss Foundation Program Manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa

 Bookmark and Share
 

Tags: Levi Strauss & Co.,Levi Strauss Foundation,Social Responsibility

Before posting your comment, please read the Blog Guidelines.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.

Before posting your comment, please read the Blog Guidelines.

We welcome your comments.

When submitting a blog comment, please consider the following guidelines:

  • Focus on the topic
  • Be constructive and considerate
  • All submissions are subject to the terms set forth in our Terms of Use

This is a moderated blog. Each comment will be reviewed. We reserve the right not to post your submission if it’s off-topic or contains any of the following types of content or violates other guidelines:

  • Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other language not suitable for a public forum
  • Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers, or websites
  • Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other forms of contact information
  • Critical or spiteful comments on other posts on the page or their authors

In addition, if you wish to share feedback with us about product selection, pricing, ordering, delivery or other customer service issues, please do not submit this feedback through this blog. Instead, contact us here.