MLS WORKS announced during halftime of the 2017 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target on Wednesday the 2017 MLS WORKS Community MVP, Keith Palau.
Palau, the Portland Timbers community representative, won a $25,000 check from MLS WORKS and Wells Fargo for Embrace Oregon. Founded in 2012, Embrace Oregon connects caring community members with vulnerable children and families in partnership with the Oregon Department of Human Services.
A long-time leader in the charitable actions of the Timbers Army’s 107ist organization, Palau was nominated as the Timbers Community MVP after recently creating Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC-themed visitation rooms in the Oregon Department of Human Services offices to provide a welcoming and warm environment for foster children and their families, as part of the Timbers sixth-annual Stand Together Week. In just 48 hours, Palau raised over $8,500 for the project and received a major donation from La-Z-Boy Furniture. Additionally, Palau organized a team of 93 volunteers, who dedicated nearly 800 hours of work toward the cleaning, priming, painting and staging of the visitation rooms at the Oregon Department of Human Services offices in Beaverton, Oregon.
All 22 MLS clubs nominated one Community MVP for the award, and Palau competed against representatives from 21 MLS clubs in a three-week public voting window. The award recognizes leaders in the community who utilize soccer to help make a positive impact.
