The Green Bay Packers today announced a $250,000 impact grant geared toward hunger relief as part of an expanded community outreach initiative, Green Bay Packers Give Back.
The impact grant, awarded by the Green Bay Packers Foundation from a recommendation by Packers staff to support hunger relief, will be shared equally between five Green Bay organizations that support hunger relief:
- New Community Shelter: a Brown County emergency shelter open year round to serve homeless adult men and women, as well as provide a transitional living program and community meal program.
- Salvation Army – Green Bay: operates to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the community through a food pantry, lunch program and youth meal program.
- Paul's Pantry: an emergency food pantry, which aims to provide families below the poverty line with enough food each week and avoid homelessness.
- Stock the Shelves: a food drive program through Gannett Wisconsin Media that donates money to food pantries throughout Wisconsin in order to keep the pantries' shelves stocked.
- Boys & Girls Club After School Program: the Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay provides after school snacks, dinner and lunch if necessary to an average of 750 children a day throughout its 8 locations.
Each organization received $50,000 of the $250,000 grant, which is the third impact grant made through the Green Bay Packers Foundation. Representatives from the recipient organizations were on hand at Thursday's press conference to receive the grant.
This grant is the first charity endeavor following the Packers' launch of Green Bay Packers Give Back, the initiative that describes the organization's all-encompassing community outreach efforts.
"The entire Packers organization is thrilled to support many local non-profit and charitable organizations," Murphy said. "With this impact grant, five outstanding community organizations can continue to have an impact in the battle against hunger. With the Green Bay Packers Give Back program, we look forward to having more opportunities to give back to the community that has always supported us over the years."
Green Bay Packers Give Back will allow the Packers' community outreach efforts to continue to grow steadily as they have in recent years. The initiative comprises the Green Bay Packers Foundation's annual grants, including the $250,000 impact grants awarded to the UW-Green Bay Scholarship Fund and Achieve Brown County in the last year. It also includes the more than 10,000 donated autographed items for fund-raising efforts that raised more than $3 million in the past year.
Other key outreach areas under Green Bay Packers Give Back include the more than 900 appearances made by players, coaches and staff, the increased number of youth football grants and outreach camps, cash and in-kind donations, Make-A-Wish visits, and community events. These efforts, combined with direct cash donations by the Packers to various charity endeavors, resulted in a comprehensive Green Bay Packers Give Back charity impact in excess of $6 million in the past year.
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