On July 11th, 2016, Jackson Charles (JC) Meardon, a formal Little Hawk, was fatally struck by a car. Following his death, Iowa City united with a candlelight vigil to honor his life. Hundreds of family members, friends, and community members gathered to share their memories of JC.

The Iowa City and City High community remembers JC Meardon for his love and dedication to soccer, City High, and many other things.

City High Soccer and the Iowa Soccer Club (ISC) are partnering up to launch a foundation in Meardon’s memory. The JC Meardon Soccer Foundation, an idea conceptualized by Meardon’s parents, Kristi and Chuck, Karen Meyer, Julie Dancer, City High soccer coach Jose Fajardo, ISC coach Jon Cook, and JC’s best friends, will benefit the students and facilities of City High soccer.

“The goal of the foundation is to keep JC close to us,” Jose Fajardo, the City High Men’s Soccer head coach, said. “Every time that we walk and look at something on the soccer field, it reminds us of him. The money raised with the foundation will be destined to help kids in need to continue playing club soccer with the Iowa Soccer Club and also to improve our soccer facilities with bleachers, lights, new benches, and other needs. Our dream is to have a facility that is only for soccer.”

Karen Meyer, the mother of Jackson Meyer, a close friend of JC who was also injured in the car accident, hopes the program will improve sports facilities and encourage other students to play JC’s favorite sport.

“The goal of the foundation will be to promote [soccer through] ambitious projects related to soccer fields and the establishment/continuance of scholarship funds for soccer players in need of financial assistance,” Meyer said. “A wider goal is to promote healthy habits for youth through sports.”

The foundation will be funded by donations of businesses and individuals, according to Fajardo.

“[The foundation] will benefit many kids who can’t afford to play club,” Fajardo said. “These kids, in the future, will have the opportunity to go to college and get scholarships so they can afford an education beyond high school. At City High, [the foundation] will help us getting the best soccer facility in the state where JC loved to play.”

ISC, the soccer club Meardon played for, is also working towards turning this dream into reality.

“JC is, and always will be, someone incredibly special to me and someone who I loved to coach,” Jon Cook, the ISC coaching director, said.

Those wishing to support or learn more about the foundation may do so through the website of the Win4Weasel project, founded by Jackson Meyer ‘18 and Hieu Nguyen, a West High student. The name was inspired by JC’s childhood nickname, Weasel. All proceeds go directly to the JC Meardon Soccer Foundation.

JC’s legacy at City is evident. Win4Weasel shirts and wristbands can be spotted worn around City on any given day. The foundation has already raised more than $3,000. The soccer program permanently retired his jersey, number 12. In his memory, some of JC’s closest friends have started a soccer team in which they all sport the number 12 on their jersey.