The New Haven Steelers are gearing up for the national championship game in Charlotte, North Carolina next month, but they need help getting there.

Over the next week, the Pop Warner youth football team is raising money for transportation, hotel and food for 29 players.

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The federal grant they rely on was cut in half this year, so their fundraising goal has doubled to a total of $38,000.

As back-to-back regional champions, the team has been working extra hard, even in Tuesday evening's pouring rain, to make it all the way this year.

"We started in the summertime, mid-July, heat index is 90 plus, we have rainy days like today, windy days, but we're out here," Leonard Jahad, the New Haven Steelers vice president, sai

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