When I first heard of Crescent City, it was that slick logo that caught my eye. Just a beautiful work of art in sports logo, that crescent moon and the bank of stars, surrounded by a roundel and those two fleur-de-lis to indicate the french heritage of New Orleans, it was perfect. The expansion side for the 2020 GCPL season, which was unfortunately cancelled early in May, was fired up to kick off their participation in the league. PJ Lynch, club president, felt like the club could be competitive from day one due to local talent. “New Orleans is loaded with players and fans that we’re wanting to engage with and we feel the GCPL allows us to do just that.”

But the club’s connection to their hometown is much deeper than just the onfield talent. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, the club decided to get involved in helping locally and, according to club GM Jonathan Rednour, it was a simple decision.

“We love our city and the people that make it what it is. We looked into a few ways we could help with and we felt that this fund, which helps our gig industry, was the right cause. Our gig industry plays a huge part in the economy of New Orleans and majority of those workers are contract workers with nothing to fall back on. So we felt that was the right approach. Also, working to help out an organization like New Orleans Business Alliance, who’s [sic] sole purpose is to grow our local economy, seemed like the right thing to do.”

The club had already planned on releasing their newest t-shirt later this year, but decided to put it on sale early to help raise money for the local gig industry, in partnership with New Orleans Business Alliance. The 504 t-shirt became the fundraising tool. Rednour explained the concept of the shirt - “504 being our area code, represents the city of New Orleans, so we felt the meaning behind the shirt fit with supporting the cause for the very people that help make New Orleans what it is.” The fundraiser, which ran from early April to May 4th, raised $650 as the club sold 60 shirts.

“Being that we are a brand new club, we really wanted to test how far our reach went with doing something for our community. So we searched for a cause that we wanted to support along with seeing how much we could help by doing our part in promoting it…We can't thank everyone enough for their support.”

While the fundraiser has ended, the shirt is still for sale, and buying one will help support the club during a difficult time for soccer clubs all over the country. It’s available at the club’s online shop and if you can, buy a shirt for a club that prioritized the needs of their community over their own.

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