U.S. soccer player Julie Ertz and Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz | Wikimedia Commons
U.S. soccer player Julie Ertz and Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz raised $200,000 at the first gala for their family foundation in July 2018. $80,000 of that amount funded college scholarships for orphaned high school graduates in Haiti, while another $50,000 supported a college-readiness programme for first-generation students in Richmond, California. The National Football League Players Association also reported the scholarship donation when Zach Ertz was named its Week 5 Community MVP in October 2018, and the union said the $80,000 gift would provide full scholarships for orphaned high school graduates in Haiti. Their first gala took place in Northern California, where the couple had grown up, and the fundraising result exceeded their expectations, the Eagles reported in November 2018. The foundation also developed a fundraising initiative called Catches for the Community, under which supporters could pledge money for each reception Zach made during the NFL regular season, and the couple pledged $100 per reception themselves, according to the Eagles’ report. The first gala’s $200,000 total gave it an initial pool of funding to distribute across those programmes, with education accounting for the largest documented share of that first event’s proceeds.
The foundation was launched with the intention of extending that work beyond one location. The remaining proceeds supported the foundation’s wider work in youth sports, education and family services. Julie Ertz was a member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, while Zach played tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles, and the couple chose to establish a joint foundation rather than separate organisations, with a focus on youth sports, education and family support. Later that year, they planned a second event in Philadelphia, with proceeds intended for local charities through the foundation’s City of Love Fund. The early projects in Haiti, Richmond and Philadelphia reflected the foundation’s three stated areas of work.
Zach’s visit to Haiti earlier that year had included volunteering in communities where children had limited access to sports equipment and facilities, and he returned with a stronger interest in supporting projects that combined education, sports and community resources.
