The 7th Annual American Samoa Goodwill Mission by the June Jones Foundation will begin tomorrow morning at the Veterans Memorial Stadium and will be, as in the past, hosted locally by the Samoa Bowl Committee.

The mission, led by Southern Methodist University Head football coach June Jones, provides medical assistance, supplies, equipment and offers football training by coaches and former National Football League (NFL) players as well as scholarships for athletes. Last year, the group donated more than $300,000 in medical supplies to the LBJ Hospital as well as books to the Boys and Girls Club of American Samoa.

According to Samoa Bowl Committee Chairman Peter Gurr, there will be several former NFL players and coaches coming this year including Philadelphia Eagles Running Back Reno Mahe, San Francisco 49ers legend Jesse Sapolu who is a 4-time Super Bowl Champion and Denver Broncos Defensive End Ma’a Tanuvasa who is 2-time Super Bowl Champion, among others.

Tomorrow’s events will start off with a 7 on 7 Flag Football tournament along with a girls’ volleyball tournament, both beginning at 9 a.m. at the stadium. The tournament will continue throughout the day with the awards presentation at 3 p.m.

On Sunday, there will be a church service for the group at the CCCAS in Sa’ilele Village that will be followed by a luncheon hosted by Acting Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga.

On Monday June 16, there will be five $2,000 academic college scholarships awarded to five lucky high school seniors during a press conference/meeting at the Governors office beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Following the meeting with Acting Governor Lemanu, the Medical Team, which is also part of the Goodwill Mission and led by Dr. Francisco Garcia with medical staff from the U.S., will donate medical supplies to the LBJ Tropical Medical Center.

Following the LBJ donation there will be a luncheon with the LBJ CEO hosted by the CEO and staff. The team will depart on Monday night’s flight.

Jones is a former head football coach for the University of Hawaii-Manoa (Warriors) football team where he coached from 1999-2007. Currently, he is at the helm of the Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team, but continues to make the trip for the American Samoa Goodwill Mission every year.

According to the June Jones Foundation website, www.junejonesfoundation.org, the foundation is a 501c(3) nonprofit, tax-exempt foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life for needy families of children with life threatening illnesses as well as other charitable causes.

Chairman Pita Gurr stated that he would like to invite the public out to witness firsthand how this annual event has impacted the lives of so many of our youth as well as our community. They are invited out to the Stadium on Saturday to cheer their athletes on.