Casey Blossom ’13, Anna Tachau ’12, and their soccer-playing friends were selling cookies and bagels in Smith Union Thursday, raising awareness and donations for Grassroot Soccer. They were also signing people up for a May 5th Grassroot Soccer tournament at Bowdoin.

A nonprofit based in Norwich, Vt., Grassroot Soccer works around the world-but mostly in Africa-to harness the passion of soccer to raise HIV and AIDS awareness.

Blossom helped launch the annual soccer tournament-fundraiser at Bowdoin three years ago, and she says it’s grown quite a bit since then. Last year, the Bowdoin games attracted about 150 players and raised more than $2,800. “It’s fun, it’s a fun event, and it’s awesome to see the huge amount of community support for it,” Blossom said.