Walid Soliman Starts Fundraiser for Paving Concession Stand in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, VA, June 20, 2017 (Newswire.com) - Walid Soliman, a young man from Newport News, Virginia, is giving people the opportunity to have their name put on a small sports complex in Newport News, Virginia. The baseball complex is in need of paving for its new concession stand, and Soliman's idea is to raise funds for this within the community.
He has teamed up with a local organization that creates engraved pavers. Each paver that is purchased will be installed on the site of the concession stand. This is just one of the activities he has organized in order to get enough money together, and it is proving to be quite popular. This is due to the fact that it will give people visible and continuous ownership of a piece of their community.
His idea was developed during his previous campaign, which was a beer tasting event. In this event, people could purchase tickets for various beer samples, and there was also a bar and store to purchase the beer that they had tasted. All profits raised at this event were used for funding the construction of the sports complex, which was also sponsored through advertisements from the different beer houses that took part.
Now, his goal is to build a complete concession stand, and also fences around the field. Furthermore, if enough funds are raised, he wants to invest them in electronic scoreboards, batting cages, and training sessions for young people.
Walid Soliman says: “Want to get your name or your family's name on the new concession stand for the Newport News Sports Complex? Newport News Youth Baseball is offering the chance to do just that.”
The local organization is now selling engraved pavers to be installed on the concession stand site as part of its fundraising campaign, which kicked off with a beer-tasting event at Wagner Park on June 9. Money raised from the sales of the pavers will go towards financing the construction of the new concession stand, fencing on all of the fields and future enhancements, such as batting cages and scoreboards. Soliman is passionate about this because he trained on that field himself and learned to love the game of baseball. He was eventually accepted to university with a full baseball scholarship, and he wants to express his gratitude to the community for that.
He says: "I learned to play baseball on this field. We didn't have a concession stand, there was no fencing, we didn't have uniforms. What we did have, however, was a strong community spirit and some excellent volunteers. I was able to go to university thanks to their guidance and support, and I have embarked on a successful career. Now is my time to give back, by ensuring that others get the same opportunities that I had, but in even better surroundings."
The pavers that are now on sale are either 4" by 8" or 8" by 8", and people can purchase as many as they want. There are two different options to choose from for the layout as well. The 4" by 8" paver can fit three lines of text. Each line can contain up to 20 characters. These pavers cost $100 each. The second option is to also have three lines of text, but each line can only contain 12 characters. However, a graphic or logo, if approved, can also be included. These pavers cost $125 each.
The larger pavers also have two design options. The first is six 20-character lines of text, which costs $200. The second option for the larger paver is to have four text lines of 12 characters each, as well as the graphic or logo, if approved. This will cost $225. Soliman wants to make sure that people understand that a punctuation is considered to be a character, and so does a space, regardless of the option that is chosen.
Lastly, people can also purchase a mini paver for $35. This will be a replica of the paver they bought and will be installed in the concession stand, but it will be sent to the buyers' homes for them to display. It will also make it clear that it went to the Newport News Sports Complex.
As of this time, Soliman has already exceeded his target for donations, but he wants to encourage people to keep giving, as it will all go to the complex. It is expected that the facility will be open for business in the spring of next year. At that point, people will be able to come and see where their pavers have been placed. Soliman expects them to greatly enjoy reading all the pavers in an effort to identify their own. Interestingly, many people outside of Newport News have already made purchases.
Source: Walid Soliman