Soccer kindness documentary to screen in Salmon Arm
Published 5:00 am Thursday, August 20, 2026
The Goal of Kindness is a 62-minute film that chronicles the driving trip to Panama and seven other countries by Vernon’s Shelley Zupp to deliver soccer jerseys, equipment and cleats.
The documentary was put together by Vernon’s Melissa Jacobs of Inspire Kindness Productions and co-produced by Zupp.
A local screening of The Goal of Kindness is taking place Saturday, Aug.22, at 4 p.m. at the Salmar Grand.
“I’m super excited to finally be showing the documentary that Mel and I have been working on for three years,” said Zupp. “It took longer to produce a 60-minute film than it did to drive all the way to Panama.”
Zupp’s trip happened between April and October 2022. Accompanied by travel partners, she drove to Panama in a truck and trailer from Bannister GM, which was decorated with the Goal of Kindness logo for added visibility and exposure along the way. The trailer was loaded with 1,800 soccer jerseys, 200 soccer balls, and two huge bags of soccer cleats.
Along the trip, Zupp and her travel mates documented their various stops with their phones, saved the footage, and Zupp got together with Jacobs upon her return and turned over the recordings.
“Before she left, we had met and I told her to document everything, film everything, basically keep a journal,” said Jacobs, an educator by day. “When they came back, I set up a studio at my home, and I did interviews there with everybody.
“It took us about two years to put the whole film together. We were editing it country by country. There were days I’d wake up at 6:30 a.m. and would still be working on it at midnight. But putting the story together, Shelley was always there. There was nothing I did by myself without her, so we were really a team.”
Tickets are $12 per person and available at the door and online at eventbrite.ca.
With files by Roger Knox/Vernon Morning Star.