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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Youth Soccer Association has donated about 40 boxes of soccer equipment to Operation Give, a nonprofit organization that gives donated items to U.S. soldiers to distribute to people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Outside the United States, soccer is the universal language," said Operation Give's Paul Holton, who served as an interrogator in Iraq with the 141st Military Intelligence Battalion.
Leisa Vineyard, UYSA president, said members of the organization "jumped at the opportunity to donate and help put cleats on the feet of a child who has never played in shoes."
Holton said Monday that he hopes the Iraqi people will form a youth soccer league to use the donated equipment.
Since Operation Give began in 2003, it has donated toys, medical supplies, clothing and shoes to orphanages, schools, hospitals and homes in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Holton said.
"We hear so much bad about what's happening in Iraq; it's nice to be part of something that's positive," he said.
Operation Give sends the items to U.S. soldiers and then the soldiers pass out the items when they patrol neighborhoods.
"(Soldiers) are the ones winning the peace," he said. "War breeds a lot of discontent and misunderstanding. It's hard for (Iraqis) to understand Americans when we're over there killing their people, so you've got to find a way to bridge the gap."
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On the Net:
Operation Give: http://www.operationgive.org/
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
