Soccer groups help clean up

Allianz Field opened its doors in 2019. Since then, both soccer supporters and Minnesota United FC have organized neighborhood cleanups around the Hamline-Midway neighborhood.
The longest-running of Minnesota United supporter groups is the Dark Clouds that started back in Minnesota Thunder years (1990-96). Rich Harrison explained, “The idea is you can’t have Thunder without Dark Clouds.”

Dark Clouds Silver Lining: Fans Give Back
In 2012, Rich Harrison started a volunteer group within the Dark Clouds called Silver Lining. However, his involvement with volunteering goes back further. Harrison recounted, “Yeah, I got heavily involved in volunteerism during the economic crisis, or the 2008 economic crash. I volunteered with Surly Gives A D*mn groups and my neighborhood organization Green Team [East Isles Neighborhood Association] and the Loppet Foundation.”
He added, “That inspired me to think we need to get more involved in the community during the off season, when we’re not cheering on our teams, stay connected with each other, and give back to the community.”
Back in 2012, the Minnesota Stars FC, which become Minnesota United in 2013, played at the National Sport Center in Blaine. Rich Harrison remembered one of the first Silver Lining events was helping former Thunder player Tony Sanneh and his organization The Sanneh Foundation: “Tony had all of this used soccer equipment in his storage lockers in this apartment building on Grand Avenue.... And so he’s like, ‘Hey, could you guys come over and help me pull all this stuff out and get it organized?’ So we did, and we showed up with maybe a dozen people, and [there were] all these boxes of miscellaneous soccer shoes and jerseys and shorts and balls.”
Harrison explained, “The idea was to provide soccer equipment gently use soccer equipment to teams in need, both locally and abroad. I know some have also gone to Haiti and other Central American countries.”
In 2019, the Dark Clouds Silver Lining started doing trash pickups around the Midway. Harrison pointed out that a lot of soccer fans park in the neighborhoods (primarily north of University, but also south of University) and walk in to the games once a week. “And we knew that it was a little bit of a problem for the residents to have all these people come in and take the parking away, but it was only once a week,” he said. “We wanted to give back, and we wanted to show that we’re part of your community, and we want to help keep it clean.”
Collin Solberg got into local soccer “accidentally.” Solberg recalled, “I used to live in a downtown Minneapolis condo about two blocks from U.S. Bank Stadium. When they changed the name from the NSC [Minnesota] Stars to Minnesota United, they announced they were playing a half season at the Metrodome. And I said, ‘Hey, I like soccer. I’ve never been in one of these games. I can walk to the walk to the Metrodome at the time to watch games.’ So I got a half-season ticket package, walked in, saw the Dark Clouds with about eight-foot-tall puppets in the stands, and I fell in love instantly.”
Solberg added, “My wife Samantha and I live over in Seward, over in Minneapolis, but we are part of the ownership group here at Black Hart. So we have a very close tie with the neighborhood, and want to make sure that the place is looking nice and looking good, and people want to come here.”
Harrison said the supporters do two clean-ups every year. “Now we do it in the spring and in the fall. As we all know, once all the snow melts, it leaves all this stuff behind.” He explained that they try to get out before the “April rain showers, and clean up trash so it doesn’t go into the storm sewers. And also just cleaning up the neighborhood. Then we do one in the fall.” This year’s event was on Oct. 20 after the last home game. “It also gives, of course, us a chance to come together as fans and celebrate the team and learn more about each other, which is another big part of why Silver Lining is so awesome.”

MN United Organizes Food Drives, Cleanups
Jen Winterfeldt has history with working in the Midway neighborhood, including time as the Director of Development and Community Relations at Keystone Community Services. She said, “I worked at Keystone for 10 years, so I was responsible for helping fundraise to build the new Community Food Center, which is at Fairview and University.”
She remembered when Cori Frankenberg-Meixner of Minnesota United first reached out: “They were really authentic about how they engaged with us [Keystone], and really wanted to uplift the work we did and support us in the ways that made sense for club-aligned work. We were doing that honestly even before the stadium was finished.”
Winterfeldt related, “It just started with like, ‘Hey, we have extra tickets. Would you like to give these to the youth in your after school program?’ And then from there, it really went to because of the partnership with Allianz Life.... where we opted to make our focus was all about the food-shelf work that Keystone does in the Midway.”
Winterfeldt spoke about Minnesota United helping Keystone organize food drives when the club played at TCF Stadium (2017-18), and how that continued when Allianz Field opened in St. Paul. “What was really awesome is then during the pandemic, when people really just were lost and really needed resources ... [we did] a drive-through event right at the stadium that was important, really impactful. That because we had already built a long standing trusting relationship between Keystone, Minnesota United, and Allianz Life.”
Remember Frankenberg-Meixner who first reached out to Winterfeldt at Keystone? Winterfeldt was recently selected as her replacement as the Minnesota United is Director of Community Relations.
While Minnesota United has helped organize neighborhood cleanups since 2019, Winterfeldt spoke specifically about organizing a Minnesota United cleanup that took place Oct. 4, 2024: “The St. Paul Cup is the game that happens between two St. Paul area high schools, where their boys and girls soccer team play on the field.” She added, “And so this year was the very first time that we added a community day activation around the St. Paul Cup.... So, we probably had about 30 volunteers out that day, walking the neighborhood in the morning.”
Winterfeldt recalled, “There were some supporters. There were some neighbors who maybe even just walked up. Then there were staff from nVent [corporate sponsor] who came, and then there were staff from the club.” She added, “There was a volunteer and he said, ‘Oh, I got the email. I am a season ticket member. I’d like to come and help.’ There was a family that came: a mom brought her four kids, and they walked up and helped.”
Winterfeldt spoke about a connection between the morning clean up and the pregame festivities for the Oct. 4 St. Paul Cup. “There’s a local business across the street, a gym that the owners were like, ‘We’ve been wanting to do a community cleanup. I’m so glad you’re here. Can we come out and join you?’ That was like, just really like sweet. Because then later on, we were hosting a clinic on the lawn for the community activity. So, he brought his son out to kick a ball with us later on in the afternoon.”
If you have ideas or want to help Minnesota United in the community, Winterfeldt said, “Please do. You can email us at Community Relations. That’s an open public email address communityrelations@mnufc.com.”