Grassroot Soccer, the nonprofit organization that uses the “power of soccer” in the fight against HIV/AIDS, officially kicked off its global youth movement, Grassroot Soccer UNITED, as co-founder Ethan Zohn (winner, Survivor: Africa) embarked from Gillette Stadium at halftime of the New England Revolution - DC United match and took to the streets of southeastern Massachusetts, headed for Rhode Island, in the first leg of a landmark 3-month, 550-mile trek, on foot – dribbling a soccer ball the entire distance. The first-ever Grassroot Soccer UNITED Dribble looks to get kids and all soccer fans around the world involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The effort, during which Ethan looks to set a World Record for longest continuous dribble, will take him through the streets of Providence, New Haven, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and the various surrounding townships, culminating in Washington, D.C., on December 1, World AIDS Day. Along the way, Grassroot Soccer UNITED and campaign sponsors will stage a wide series of clinics, rallies and media appearances. Full route map and details can be found at www.grassrootsoccerunited.org.

“This represents years of planning and hard work,” says Grassroot Soccer co-founder Ethan Zohn, who started the organization in 2002.  “I’d like to thank our sponsors and supporters who have already contributed to the success of this massive undertaking, as well as all those to come. And I’d especially like to recognize the millions of kids in Africa and elsewhere who’ve inspired it.”

Grassroot Soccer UNITED is a year-long initiative to get kids around the world to join the Grassroot Soccer “team” and get involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. By summer 2009, the ten Grassroot Soccer UNITED “players” who have raised the most money for the effort earn a trip to South Africa to play at the FIFA Football for Hope Center alongside their teammates – African kids whose lives they’ve helped. In all, Grassroot Soccer UNITED hopes to raise $1 million for the cause.

Sponsors and partners of Grassroot Soccer UNITED and the Dribble 2008 so far include PUMA®, POWERade®, PUGG®, Clif® Bar and Clif Kid, Morgans Hotel Group, General Motors® and Dasani®. Apart from other areas of support, each has pledged in-kind contributions of products and resources to support Grassroot Soccer, encourage public participation and further the cause.

Just six years old, Grassroot Soccer – using a highly specialized curriculum that combines rigorously tested methods with kids’ love for the sport of soccer and its local heroes – has equipped over 240,000 African children with the skills and knowledge they need to live healthy, long lives. Partners like FIFA, MercyCorps, PUMA and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have not only supported the curriculum, but greatly expanded its influence by helping implement it in a dozen countries across the continent.

The organization aims to impact the lives of more than 1 million with its curriculum by 2010. More information is available at www.grassrootsoccer.org