Chelsea-Mad is happy to promote an appeal for Chile earthquake victims set up by West Bromwich Albion. It relates directly to Albion's Gonzalo Jara's home city of Talcahuano. Robbie Di Matteo is a Chelsea legend and we are happy to join forces for what we all agree is a catastrophe that transends all football boundaries.
So here we go...
HERE'S your chance to raise much-needed funds for the earthquake-hit home city of Gonzalo Jara - and bag an West Bromwich Albion collector's item to boot.
The people of Talcahuano, where Jara's parents still live, are recovering from the massive quake, measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, which struck Chile at the end of February.
Albion showed their support for the ongoing aid effort in the South American country by featuring 'Help Chile' logos on their shirts in the 1-0 victory against Sheffield Wednesday.
We've now teamed up with the IMG Sports Technology Group to auction off the 18 match shirts of Roberto Di Matteo's squad - plus a specially-designed Jara shirt.
At Jara's request, Albion will arrange for the proceeds to go directly to Talcahuano to help residents rebuild their lives.
The shirts up for grabs include goalscorer Robert Koren's plus those of captain Scott Carson, vice-captain Jonas Olsson, Steven Reid, Gabriel Tamas, Marek Cech, Chris Brunt, James Morrison, Youssouf Mulumbu, Graham Dorrans, Jerome Thomas, Luke Moore, Ishmael Miller, Giles Barnes, Dean Kiely, Abdoulaye Meite, Simon Cox and Ben Watson.
To make each shirt even more collectable, we'll get the players to sign their respective jerseys on the front and back.
We've also made up a Jara match shirt which will be signed by the Chile international, head coach Di Matteo and the 18 players on duty against the Owls.
Each shirt comes with an official Albion certificate of authenticity.
The bidding for each shirt is underway at £50.
The auctions will deadline on Friday, March 26, at 7pm.
On top of the shirt auction, the club will make a further donation to the aid effort in Talcahuano.
Chile international Jara, who has been ruled out for the season with a broken metatarsal, was in Santiago when the earthquake struck and had to evacuate his wife and children from their flat to a nearby park.
The quake, one of the largest ever recorded, has killed hundreds of people while the Chilean government estimates around two million more have been affected by the disaster.
After hearing about Jara's plight, and witnessing the devastation in Chile on TV, the club felt it would be fitting to help raise funds for the humanitarian effort - as they did for the ongoing crisis in Haiti.
The club have been able to do this via the match-by-match shirt sponsorship deals they are offering businesses and organisations.
Albion have struck one-game shirt partnerships with Blue Square, Victor Chandler, Esprit and Sbobet in recent weeks and have already sewn up sponsorship deals for five of their remaining ten fixtures.
Having successfully raised awareness of, and funds for, the DEC'S Haiti Appeal by adding supportive logos to the players' shirts at Newcastle in January, Albion donated the same advertising space to the Chilean aid effort.
The 'Help Chile' logo featured the British Red Cross' website address, redcross.org.uk, where donations can be made.
The British Red Cross is working hand in hand with the Chilean Red Cross to provide relief to the disaster-struck country.
The Red Cross is assisting the people of Chile with search and rescue and medical assistance plus basic amenities like water, sanitation and shelter - but the needs are great.
The Chilean Red Cross is working on the ground in partnership with emergency services, carrying out search and rescue operations and damage assessments, and giving medical assistance where necessary.
To make a donation visit: redcross.org.uk, call 0845 054 7201 or send a cheque, made payable to the British Red Cross, to: Chile Earthquake Appeal, British Red Cross, 44 Moorfields, London, EC2Y 9AL.
For further information about Albion's match-by-shirt shirt sponsorship, please contact Adrian Wright on 07984 564 835 or at adrian.wright@wbafc.co.uk
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