Sporting Kansas City announced today a one-of-a-kind opportunity for local high school and college seniors in the Class of 2020 to have a free graduation photo taken on the pitch at Children’s Mercy Park by a professional photographer.
Grad photos, presented by UMB, is the latest initiative launched by Sporting Serves, a newly established philanthropic platform in which Sporting Kansas City and the club's flagship charitable arm, The Victory Project, are united with community partners to support families across the metropolitan area.
Sporting Serves has set up several programs specifically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including Sporting Community Kitchen to provide 1,000 free meals a day for households in need and a blood drive for the Community Blood Center at Children’s Mercy Park earlier this week.
VIDEO: Peter Vermes and Graham Zusi congratulate Class of 2020
Class of 2020 seniors, whose final semesters were significantly impacted by the recent closing of schools and cancellation of extracurricular activities and events, will now have a special chance to not only have a free graduation photo captured by a professional photographer on the pitch at Children’s Mercy Park, but also to have the graduate’s name and/or photo digitally displayed in the image background on the stadium’s videoboard.
A limited number of timeslots will be available in 10-minute intervals from 2-7 p.m. from May 25-28 at Children’s Mercy Park, with May 29 reserved exclusively for Sporting KC Season Ticket Members from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Participants will be asked to check in at the Budweiser Brew House 30 minutes prior to their scheduled time and public health protocols will be in place for all attendees and staff, including the use of masks and social distancing.
Advance registration is required and open online at SportingKC.com until all timeslots are assigned. Individuals may only sign up for one timeslot, however a registrant is permitted to bring up to three additional guests to be included in their graduation photo.
This graduation gift to the Class of 2020 is presented in partnership with UMB. Sporting KC welcomed UMB, the club’s official commercial banking partner, as a First Team partner in 2013 en route to winning MLS Cup at Children’s Mercy Park, which features the luxurious UMB Field Club and UMB Premium Entrance. Headquartered in Kansas City and founded in 1913, UMB has been a pillar of the KC community for more than 100 years, offering commercial banking, personal banking, and institutional banking. UMB operates branches throughout Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arizona and Texas, and serves business and institutional clients nationwide.
