Green Bay Packer's running back Ahman Green was on hand Tuesday at the Brown County UW Extension Offices to help distribute food and personal care items to area families.
This Thanksgiving distribution is part of a new collaborative partnership between the international charity and relief organization, Feed The Children and Athletes First, one of the country's premier sports representation firms.
According to Larry Jones, president and co-founder of Feed The Children, "The partnership grew out of discussions over the summer with Athletes First's President and CEO, David Dunn, and several players who were looking for additional ways to help their communities."
During its inaugural year, the partnership will provide over 75 tons of products to families in seven NFL cities between November 18th and November 25th.
"We are delighted to be teaming up with some of professional football's top players to help out families during this holiday season," Jones said.
"Thanksgiving is the ideal time for each of us to give back to the local community and help out those in need. I am grateful to be involved with Athletes First and Feed The Children in this national effort," added Green.
NuSkin Enterprise spearheaded the corporate contributions to this nationwide effort. The Provo, Utah based company was the first corporate donor to underwrite the Thanksgiving distribution.
In addition, Allen Canning, New World Pasta, Frito Lay, Brach's, Gilster Mary Lee, Unilever Best Foods, Dial, Church & Dwight, Georgia Pacific, Colomer USA, Tupperware, Clorox, and Unilever HPC have all contributed to this program.
"All our partner agencies are indeed grateful to Ahman Green, Feed The Children and Athletes First for working with us to bring the gift of food to the families in our area this holiday season," said Lee Meyer, president of the Brown County Food & Hunger Network. "With their assistance, it is a blessing to be able to provide a Thanksgiving meal to those who may otherwise go without."
About The Brown County Food & Hunger Network
The Brown County Food & Hunger Network is a volunteer-based, donor-supported partnership of public and private organizations, government agencies and private individuals.
The Brown County UW Extension coordinates with many of these partner groups in efforts aimed at eliminating hunger and improving food security in the community.
The organization and its partners have been serving individuals and families with limited resources with emergency food assistance, support of community garden development, advocacy and education about food security issues as well as other needs-based project since 1983 when it was incorporated as a tax-exempt, non-profit organization.
About Athletes First
Athletes First is one of the country's premier sports representation firms, boasting a client roster with over 60 NFL players and many other athletes, coaches, and broadcasters.
Formed in 2001 with the expressed commitment of attending to the needs and well being of its clients. Athletes First specializes in contract negotiation and corporate marketing.
President and CEO David Dunn and his staff have negotiated over $1 Billion in playing, coaching, and marketing contracts. In addition to this work, Athletes First's client servicing efforts also include event planning, public relations, and charitable activities.
About Feed The Children
Feed The Children is one of America's fastest growing charities. Since 1998, revenues have grown from $185 million to $553 million in 2002, an increase of nearly two hundred percent.
The Oklahoma City based organization is an international, non-profit relief organization whose mission is to deliverer food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disaster.
In FY 2002, Feed The Children shipped 63 million pounds of food and 24 million pounds of other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and in 51 foreign countries. Worldwide, the charity supplemented over 484,453 meals a day.
