Monterey Bay Football Club Teams Up with Cesar Chavez Futbol Academy for 10th Annual Holiday Toy Drive in Salinas
SALINAS, Calif. (Tuesday, December 19, 2023) – In advance of the fast-approaching holiday, Monterey Bay Football Club (Monterey Bay F.C.) took the time to assist the Cesar Chavez Futbol Academy (CCFA) with its 10th Annual Holiday Toy Drive at the Alisal Family Resource Center in Salinas on Friday, December 15. MBFC’s Adrian Rebollar and MBFC2 players Jose Madrigal, Alexis Sanchez, and Watsonville native Hugo Vargas-Rios – who each currently represent CSUMB Men’s Soccer team as well – were in attendance to hand out toys, meet the families, sign autographs and take pictures.
“It’s very important for us to be out here for events like this,” said Vargas-Rios. “They are the ones that support us throughout the season, so times like these are when we can show support to them. They are our motivation, they keep us going and keep us playing how we play. It’s great to give back to the community where we are from.”
The CCFA’s Holiday Toy Drive partners with the Alisal Family Resource Center each year to collect toys and donations in the months leading up to the holiday season. Both organizations then come together to distribute those donations to families in need within the local community in order to provide them with some extra support come holiday time. This year, Monterey Bay F.C. joined CCFA and the Alisal Family Resource Center to help over 1,000 families with their most recent distribution that included fresh produce from the Food Bank for Monterey County.
“We’ve done this toy drive for 10 consecutive years now, and it’s just a small way for us to give back to a lot of the families that give to us year round by working in the fields and feeding us and our families,” said CCFA Co-Founder and Director Anthony Velasquez, who is also an assistant coach for CSUMB Men’s Soccer. “It’s really fun and it’s good to teach some of our players to get out into the community and pay it forward. Better people make better players, and that’s a big part of our philosophy. Having MBFC and MBFC2 players here is really cool. Their involvement in this is special and it just goes to speak on these guys’ characters.”
“I think it’s very good to help those that need it the most,” said Madrigal. “It might be a small thing for us, but for these kids it can mean the world. With MBFC2 we are supported along our journeys, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to give that back and help this community out.”
