NFLPA PLAYER MEMBERS GIVE BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITIES FOR THANKSGIVING
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the country continues to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, members of the NFL Players Association made a point to once again support their communities during Thanksgiving. The below list is only a sample of the many unique ways that NFL players spread the holiday spirit by giving back to their hometowns and team cities:
Jaire Alexander (Green Bay Packers)
Hosted a coat giveaway and donated food cards for Thanksgiving at Better Days Mentoring in Green Bay. He was joined by teammates Oren Burks, Eric Stokes and Patrick Taylor.
Jonathan Allen (Washington Football Team)
Partnered with Sasha Bruce and Grace Covenant Church to host a Thanksgiving giveback for The Clay Terrace Family Success Center, which is a neighborhood-based initiative that aims to reduce unnecessary involvement with the child welfare system by providing families with the tools they need to thrive. Allen and his wife, Hannah, walked from house to house delivering canned goods and grocery gift cards to 215 families.
Robby Anderson (Carolina Panthers)
Hosted his first Thanksgiving drive-thru event where 250 holidays meals were distributed to local families in need in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.
Jerome Baker (Miami Dolphins)
Teamed up with the North Miami Police Department to host a Thanksgiving meal distribution that benefited 20 families with food and Dolphins gift bags.
Saquon Barkley (New York Giants)
Gave back to his home borough, the Bronx, by donating 500 turkeys along with Thanksgiving pantry items to community members through the Michael Ann & Saquon Barkley Hope Foundation.
Shaq Barrett (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
He and his Fifty50 Foundation hosted a Thanksgiving meal drive-thru at the Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay for families facing food insecurity.
Kelvin Beachum (Arizona Cardinals)
Donated $5,000 to provide 200 families from Eisenhower Center For Innovation in Arizona with turkeys, fresh produce, and other food items for the holiday. He and his son were on hand to load the food into cars for the drive-thru event in partnership with United Food Bank.
Bradley Bozeman (Baltimore Ravens)
The Bradley and Nikki Bozeman Foundation distributed meals to 150 families for the holiday. He was joined by teammate Tony Poljan.
Antonio Brown (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Provided a financial donation to the Tampa-based charity Metropolitan Ministries that was matched by the Buccaneers Foundation Social Justice Fund totaling $20,000 while also surprising teens with jerseys, hats and footballs in their week-long Thanksgiving camp.
Derrick Brown (Carolina Panthers)
He and his foundation helped sponsor Georgia’s largest holiday food security program by helping to provide more than 3,000 turkeys, 3,000 canned goods and fixings. The event helped feed 3,000 families in Gwinnett County and provided over 80,000 pounds of food.
Deon Bush (Chicago Bears)
For the third consecutive year, he gave Thanksgiving meals to children and families served by the SOS Children’s Village Illinois, which unites brothers and sisters in foster care while providing a safe space to heal for at-risk youth.
Kevin Byard (Tennessee Titans)
The 2021 Alan Page Community Award finalist hosted a special Thanksgiving meal basket donation for 14 families from the Rally Foundation, which supports children and their families facing adverse medical challenges. Through the Byard Family Legacy Fund, he also assisted the families through a $30,000 grant for direct medical debt relief.
Ja’Marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals)
Supported 100 families in need from the Alliance Academy of Cincinnati with food and a $50 grocery gift card.
Tarik Cohen (Chicago Bears)
Helped give away food, including 1,000 turkeys, in partnership with Black Village Foundation, Lil Durk’s Neighborhood Heroes and a local grocer.
Landon Collins (Washington Football Team)
He and his Humble Path Foundation helped feed more than 200 members of the Washington D.C. community at Emory Community Center along with 50 more families in Northern Virginia. Collins also provided 50 other local families with grocery store gift cards for the holiday.
Brandon Copeland (Atlanta Falcons)
The 2020 Alan Page Community Award winner worked with teammates Mike Davis and John Cominsky to provide funding for a local Publix to “buy out” registers at the store and surprise families with free groceries.
Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas Raiders)
Provided meals to The Hope Clinic in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he personally spent time during his college years before getting sober.
Lavonte David (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
David’s Lavonte Legends Foundation hosted the second annual Thanksgiving Giveaway at his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High, where 200 families received meals for the holidays.
Dion Dawkins (Buffalo Bills)
He and his Dion’s Dreamers foundation held a drive-thru Thanksgiving event in Buffalo that partnered with Rooted In Love to distribute 725 turkeys, hams and chickens along with 1,200 bags of produce and side items.
Mike Evans (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
The Mike Evans Family Foundation provided Thanksgiving meals and gift cards to Thomas Promise Foundation in Zephyrhills, Florida.
Trey Flowers (Detroit Lions)
Through his Flowers of the Future Foundation, the linebacker provided food for 300 families in Huntsville, Alabama.
Will Gholston (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Worked with Feeding Tampa Bay to purchase 920 Thanksgiving meals for disadvantaged families across four food pantries.
Jimmy Graham (Chicago Bears)
Provided full Thanksgiving meals for all of the youth from the residential neighborhoods served by Ignite, which supports kids experiencing homelessness. He also donated 250 Thanksgiving boxes for veterans and service members through Midwest Veterans Closet’s turkey giveaway.
Javon Hargrave (Philadelphia Eagles)
Partnered with Bringing Hope Home to hand out 150 Thanksgiving meals in furthering the non-profit’s cause of supporting families who are battling cancer.
Anthony Harris (Philadelphia Eagles)
Donated 100 Thanksgiving meals to families from Northern Children’s Services, which is a local nonprofit organization that supports the healthy development of children and youth.
Casey Hayward (Las Vegas Raiders)
For the eighth year in a row, he and his Hayward Hands foundation hosted a Thanksgiving distribution, blessing 60 low-income families with 200 meals in partnership with End Goal United Way of Southern Nevada. Raiders teammates Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Kenyan Drake, Brandon Facyson, Nate Hobbs, Keisean Nixon and Roderic Teamer were also on hand to help.
Akiem Hicks (Chicago Bears)
Held his fourth annual Thanksgiving Meal Service and Distribution and also visited the True Value Boys & Girls Club in Chicago to distribute meals to 100 at-risk youth.
Rashard Higgins (Cleveland Browns)
Hosted his annual turkey drive and turkey trot, where goods were donated to St. Ambrose Church in Strongville, Ohio, proceeds were donated to The City Mission, more than 600 people were fed and more than 200 turkeys were distributed.
Xavien Howard (Miami Dolphins)
Distributed Thanksgiving meal boxes that he purchased for 35 families at the Boys & Girls Club of Broward, where he spent time with the kids before distributing the meals to the families.
Chris Hubbard (Cleveland Browns) and Bryan Cox Jr. (Buffalo Bills)
Collaborated to buy food that fed more than 1,000 people in Morrow, Georgia, along with a special raffle giveaway for a 32-inch TV.
Sam Hubbard (Cincinnati Bengals)
Worked with The Passion Plate to feed 100 people with homemade meals for Thanksgiving as he visited Lighthouse Sheakley Center For Youth and Freestore Food Bank’s workforce development program, Cincinnati COOKS! He was joined by teammates Cam Sample and Wyatt Rey along with former Bengal Vincent Rey.
Eddie Jackson (Chicago Bears)
Committed a $5,000 donation to support 200 families at two food pantries through the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Kareem Jackson (Denver Broncos)
He and his foundation teamed up with Food Bank of the Rockies to donate turkeys and Thanksgiving food items to families in need at a mobile pantry location in north Denver.
Derwin James (LA Chargers)
Hosted two Thanksgiving distributions that served 200 families in need in Polk County, Florida and Orange County, California.
Grady Jarrett (Atlanta Falcons)
Provided nearly 100 men with a Thanksgiving meal and Falcons gear, along with music and games, at the Atlanta Mission Shepherd’s Inn homeless shelter.
Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings)
Provided 100 Thanksgiving meals to families in need at a local food shelf.
Malcolm Jenkins (New Orleans Saints) and Chris Long
Released a one-of-a-kind mosaic art piece inspired by their off-field social justice protest on the sidelines during a 2017 Philadelphia Eagles game, with proceeds from the auction benefiting the Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Long foundations as they assists communities in need.
Aaron Jones (Green Bay Packers)
Worked with his brother Alvin to donate 200 turkeys and fixings at Hawkins Elementary in El Paso, Texas through their A&A All The Way Foundation, which is dedicated to make an impact on the nation’s youth.
Jonathan Jones (New England Patriots)
He and his foundation went back to his hometown of Carrollton, GA and hosted sneaker week for at-risk youth in the community. Jonathan was on hand to provide 250 pairs of new and repurposed sneakers while connecting with the kids.
Matt Judon and Carl Davis Jr. (New England Patriots)
Teamed up with The Trenchwork Foundation, The Greater Boston Food Bank, YMCA of Greater Boston Area, The Community Huddle Agency and Hydrate the Hood to distribute 500 Thanksgiving meals to local families in need.
Jarvis Landry (Cleveland Browns)
Hosted the second annual Jarvis Landry Thanksgiving Drive at Parma Senior High in Cleveland, where he partnered with the Cleveland Food Bank and distributed Thanksgiving meals to 1,000 local residents in need.
Darius Leonard (Indianapolis Colts)
Earned Week 12 NFLPA Community MVP honors by providing Thanksgiving meal kits to 70 Indianapolis families experiencing homelessness due to interpersonal abuse and domestic violence as well as 100 more households in need in his hometown of Lake View, South Carolina through the Maniac Foundation.
Anthony Levine Sr. (Baltimore Ravens)
He and his 4Every1 Foundation hosted its sixth annual turkey drive that distributed 200 turkeys and sides to local families. Teammates Malik Harrison and Geno Stone pitched in to help.
Tyrann Mathieu (Kansas City Chiefs)
Passed out turkeys and meals to 500 families during a drive-thru event in partnership with his foundation and The Giving Hope KC Food Pantry.
Steven Means (Atlanta Falcons)
Partnered with his high school alma mater to donate turkeys and chicken as well as provide a vaccine drive to 300 families in the Buffalo area.
Rodney McLeod (Philadelphia Eagles)
Blessed his team city by handing out turkeys and sides to 250 people along with teammates Darius Slay and Zech McPhearson. McLeod also donated $10,000 to after-school programs at Hill-Freedman World Academy through his Change Our Future initiative.
Pernell McPhee, Brandon Williams, Marlon Humphrey and Jimmy Smith (Baltimore Ravens)
Hosted a Thanksgiving food distribution for 300 pre-selected families in the Franklin Square community of Baltimore City. Teammates Tyus Bowser, Khalil Dorsey, Justin Ellis, Daelin Hayes, Nate McCrary and Odafe Oweh were also in attendance.
Emmanuel Ogbah (Miami Dolphins)
Held a drive-thru Thanksgiving meal distribution at the Northwest Boys & Girls Club, where he and his mom, Regina, provided 300 meals to South Florida families.
Larry Ogunjobi (Cincinnati Bengals)
Helped feed 100 families in the Mount Healthy community by working with Freestore Foodbank to provide turkeys and a Thanksgiving meal box. The lineman was helped by teammate Josh Tupou and members of the Mount Healthy High varsity football team.
Qadree Ollison (Atlanta Falcons)
Donated 150 turkeys to families at the little league field where he played football as a child near Niagara Falls.
Ed Oliver Jr. (Buffalo Bills)
Hosted a Thanksgiving giveaway at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Louisiana, where his family and friends distributed 300 turkeys in the area where he spent many summers with his grandparents.
Corey Peters (Arizona Cardinals)
He and his Peters Education Enrichment Project foundation distributed Thanksgiving turkeys and $800 grocery gift cards at South Pointe Elementary School in Phoenix as part of the school’s annual Turkey Trot.
Marcus Peters and Ronnie Stanley (Baltimore Ravens)
Led a Thanksgiving food distribution for 300 families in Baltimore along with teammates Justin Ellis, Latavius Murray and James Proche, Ar’Darius Washington.
Patrick Peterson (Minnesota Vikings)
Hosted the fifth annual Patrick Peterson Thanksgiving Giveaway – a holiday food drive where he distributed 200 Thanksgiving meals to local families in need. Patrick and the P2 Foundation for Success teamed up with the Open Door food bank and Valley Natural Foods to help provide the meals.
Harrison Phillips (Buffalo Bills)
Rented out Dave and Buster’s arcade for 100 families for kids and young adults with developmental differences and special needs to have a night of fun, food and free play for the holiday.
Jaelen Phillips (Miami Dolphins)
Visited Lotus House, a shelter dedicated for women and children facing homelessness, to surprise the kids with a day of cookie decorating and treats following the Thanksgiving weekend. The linebacker provided all cookie decorating supplies and treat ingredients for the event.
Bradley Pinion (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
He and his wife, Kaleigh, hosted a donation drive with the non-profit Convoy of Hope to provided groceries, clothing and hygiene products to more than 2,500 people in East Tampa in partnership with the Buccaneers Foundation Social Justice Fund.
Jordan Poyer (Buffalo Bills)
Brought teammates Zack Moss and Levi Wallace to serve Thanksgiving dinner to 150 families at Kids Escaping Drugs. Jordan has a personal connection to them due to his past struggles with alcohol. This organization supports kids in the Buffalo area who are struggling with substance abuse. Each family received dinner, a turkey and a $100 gift card.
D.J. Reader (Cincinnati Bengals)
Partnered with a local BBQ restaurant, Lucius Q, to supply Thanksgiving food for people living in the Over-The-Rhine. He and his mom provided 100 community members with personal care bags and turkeys as part of his A Son Never Forgets foundation.
Sheldrick Redwine (Miami Dolphins)
Hosted a drive-thru Thanksgiving meal distribution to serve his hometown community of South Florida, where he spent time with the families as they picked up their meals at the Boys & Girls Club of Miami.
Justin Reid (Houston Texans)
Hosted his annual Justin’s Grocery Grab that allowed 20 families to shop with Reid and some of his Texans teammates using a provided $200 grocery gift card.
Rigoberto Sanchez (Indianapolis Colts)
Hosted a Thanksgiving distribution in his home state of California that served 60 local families.
Geno Smith (Seattle Seahawks)
Made a surprise visit to Island Soul restaurant in Seattle, where he provided gift cards and meals for 10 families from the Atlantic Street Center, which provides educational, family support and behavioral health counseling services for children, youth and their households, with a special focus on low-income families of color
Roquan Smith (Chicago Bears)
Partnered with local businesses in his hometown in Georgia to bring food from the farm to the table for nearly 900 families.
Za’Darius Smith (Green Bay Packers)
Gave away turkeys and hams to families in his hometown of Greenville, Alabama as part of his GOoD Life Foundation, which is dedicated to helping guide and transform the lives of young adolescent boys and girls in communities with limited resources through academic, leadership, athletic and social development.
Laremy Tunsil and Tyrod Taylor (Houston Texans)
Came together to distribute Thanksgiving meals to 300 families from the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston and the YMCA of Greater Houston.
Tyrod Taylor (Houston Texans)
The quarterback also made a surprise visit to the women and children at Star of Hope Homeless Shelter for a meet-and-greet along with Thanksgiving treats.
Adam Thielen (Minnesota Vikings)
For the fourth straight year, he and his wife, Caitlin, supported local families by handing out hams and Thanksgiving food boxes.
Bobby Wagner (Seattle Seahawks)
Made a sizable contribution to two food banks in the greater Seattle area, adopted three families from the Seattle HEADSTART Program to provide them with food and warm clothes, and is financially supporting four youth football teams under the Heir Football Academy as they head to Florida for the national championships.
Denzel Ward (Cleveland Browns)
Passed out Thanksgiving meals to the local Cleveland community with his mother, Nicole.
Devin White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
The linebacker hosted a turkey distribution drive in his home state of Louisiana
Tre’Davious White (Buffalo Bills)
Donated 1,000 turkeys with side items to those in need in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. He arranged for a refrigerated semi-truck to be dropped on site filled with the food for the drive-thru event at Southern University.
Christian Wilkins (Miami Dolphins)
Partnered with Dade County Federal Credit Union to distribute hundreds of Thanksgiving turkeys and meals for South Florida families involved in the Head Start Program, which focuses on school readiness for children in low-income families.
Shawn Williams (Atlanta Falcons)
Served Thanksgiving meals to 400 women and kids at My Sister’s House, a local shelter designed to provide customized care and basic needs to every woman and child that walks in the door. He also donated $3,000 to help fund the dinner.
Isaiah Wynn (New England Patriots)
He and his Win With Wynn Foundation provided fully prepared Thanksgiving meals to 25 households in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida.
DeForest Buckner, Zaire Franklin, Ryan Kelly, Kenny Moore II, Quenton Nelson (Indianapolis Colts)
Distributed complete Thanksgiving meals to 100 pre-selected Indianapolis families at three local community centers.
Netane Muti, Quinn Meinerz, Calvin Anderson, Cam Fleming, Bobby Massie, Quinn Baily, Drew Himmelman, Casey Tucker, Lloyd Cushenberry III, Brett Jones and Austin Schlottmann (Denver Broncos offensive line)
Volunteered their time to prep the annual Thanksgiving meal served at Denver Rescue Mission’s Lawrence Street Shelter, which offers 173 beds for overnight guests and emergency care to the poor and homeless.
Atlanta Falcons specialists
Provided nearly 100 women and their children with a Thanksgiving meal and Falcons beanie, along with music and games, at the Atlanta Mission My Sister’s House, which is a homeless shelter.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line
Partnered with Publix to donate 1,000 full Thanksgiving meals to local families at the team’s 15th annual event.
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