POTSDAM --The SUNY Potsdam women’s soccer team is sponsoring an Armenian child through World Vision, an international Christian humanitarian organization.

The team is making monthly donations through the organization to help support 11-year-old girl Manush. Manush currently attends primary school where her favorite subject to study is the Armenian language. She enjoys helping her mother with household tasks and playing soccer.

“When I brought this idea to the team, they were all for it,” said Bears Head Coach Mark Misiak. “All of us are so fortunate to do what we love and be involved with SUNY Potsdam, so it’s important that we give even just a little bit to people who aren’t nearly so lucky.”

The donations go help Manush and her community get access to clean water, health care and better education. “I hope that our sponsorship of Manush helps her to follow her dreams,” said 2013 team captain Kate Clauss. “We get the chance to follow ours by playing a sport in college, so it’s great to give someone the same chance.

Projects like this help to bring our team closer together, and it’s also pretty cool that soccer is Manush’s favorite sport.”

World Vision is a global humanitarian organization with offices in approximately 100 countries. Its staff consists of nearly 40,000 whose skills include a broad variety of technical specialties, ranging from hydrology to microenterprise development to public health.

The millions of people served by World Vision include earthquake and hurricane survivors, abandoned and exploited children, survivors of famine and civil war, refugees, and children and families in communities devastated by AIDS in

Africa, Asia, and Latin America.