Washington state Governor Jay Inslee summarized the state’s new Sounders and Seahawks license plate offer this way, “Buy a license plate, give a kid a great future.”
The Seahawks and Sounders FC license plates were revealed Friday following the official bill signing ceremony with Inslee. The preliminary Seahawks plate is dominated by a 12 flag highlighted by a fading blue backdrop while the Sounders FC plate features the team’s signature rave green color with an iconic team scarf held by a fan. Both plates feature the individual team logos. The plates will be available to order by registered car/vehicle owners in January 2014.
The bulk of the proceeds from Sounders FC plate sales will benefit Washington State Mentors (www.wamentors.org), a public/private partnership based in Issaquah that provides grants and assistance to youth organizations across the state. Many of the children served by DSHS receive mentoring from Washington State Mentors.
Net proceeds from Seahawks plate sales will go to InvestED (www.invested.org), a Seattle-based non-profit that partners with schools statewide to help students from low-income families pay for clothes, shoes, school activity cards, testing fees and other student needs.
A third non-profit, the Association of Washington Generals (www.wagenerals.org) will receive a smaller portion of the Sounders FC plate sales. The AWG recognizes outstanding individuals and promotes a variety of civic and veterans causes.
The preliminary license plate designs were submitted utilizing templates provided by the Department of Licensing (DOL). The DOL will work with law enforcement to ensure readability. The designs will be finalized sometime this summer or early fall.
“The license plates are a distinctive way Seahawks and Sounders FC fans can display their passion and support local non-profits,” said Seahawks and Sounders FC president Peter McLoughlin.
“Our thanks to the team of public officials, fans and non-profit groups that supported and help shepherd the bill through the State Legislature, especially Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen and Senators Tracey Eide and Curtis King,” McLoughlin added.
The non-profit groups are developing promotional programs to increase fan awareness of the license plate program, including an event to auction off the first 25 team plate numbers. Program details will be announced this fall.