Dynamo’s Abdoulie Mansally makes big impact off field in Utah.

Many of the Dynamo players will be in an unfamiliar place when Saturday’s match kicks off in Sandy, Utah. Not Abdoulie Mansally. He will feel right at home.

That has to do with a lot more than soccer.

Acquired from Real Salt Lake in a February trade, Mansally has appeared in two games for the Dynamo. In four seasons in Utah, the versatile midfielder appeared in 49 regularseason games.

He made his mark as much off the field as he did on it.

Two years ago, Mansally started the Mansally Foundation, which aims to raise money to help youth in his African homeland of The Gambia. In 2014, Real Salt Lake named Mansally its Humanitarian of the Year.

“(The award) means the things I do are not all on the pitch. They’re off the pitch, too,” Mansally said. “I was so happy because that’s who I am. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to help other people.”

His father died in an accident when Mansally was 8 years old, leaving Mansally’s mother to raise six boys. She worked in a garden and sold peppers, yams and other vegetables. The f amily usually was limited to one meal per day — lunch.

Mansally dropped out of school so he could help and eventually caught a break when he was one of 30 kids picked out of 600 to make his country’s under-17 national team.

He never had his own soccer cleats until he was 15. He got those when he

made the team and brought in a little bit of extra money from that, too. Eventually he scored a tryout with the New England Revolution in 2007. He made his MLS debut that year at the age of 18.

Mansally immediately was able to send money home to his family. He said a $30 bag of rice could feed a family for three months in The Gambia.

“Once I made it to the professional level, I kept pushing because I know how those people back home feel,” he said. “I want to make a difference.”

His contributions increased once be started the charity. A Gambian family reached out to him with word that their daughter had cancer and could not afford treatment. Mansally helped her and another little girl in a similar situation.

When he was in Salt Lake, he often visited schools and told his story to kids. Some of those kids brought coins and soccer cleats to Mansally so he could send them back home.

“It could be hard anyway, but if you believe in yourself and work hard, then you could make it through,” Mansally said he often told the kids. “If I made it through all of my difficulties in Africa on my way here, then you can do it here, too.”

Corey Roepken is a freelance writer