Mahoning Valley Pool & Spa in conjunction with The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley will present our first annual charity flag football event, the "FOOTBALL GAME OF HOPE" to be held at the Chevrolet Centre. Proceeds will benefit the Ava Timko Fund and the Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley.

Ava Timko is a one year-old Canfield resident who was recently diagnosed with AML, a rare form of leukemia and is currently undergoing treatment in Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley (HFMV) is an organization formed to benefit chronically/terminally ill children in the Mahoning Valley and has donated over $15,000 to local charities courtesy of its Game of Hope basketball and softball games. Other partners for this event include TV stations WKBN TV-27 & FOX 17/62, Defend Youngstown, Inc, 93.3 "The Wolf" and the Mahoning Valley Thunder.

The FOOTBALL GAME OF HOPE will feature area high school coaches along with other local personalities teaming up for a flag football game with kick-off at 4PM on Saturday April 4th. There will also be a Tug of War tournament between local high school athletes with the finals held at half-time of the Thunder game that same evening. One ticket covers the Football Game of Hope, the Tug of War and the Mahoning Valley Thunder vs. Milwaukee Iron in an Arena2 Football match-up starting at 7:05PM.