GREEN BAY (WLUK) — While the majority of the NFL Draft attention will be focused on football and the players drafted, the NFL and its partners are also making a huge investment in the community.
In one week, the NFL will help to make dreams come true for hundreds of athletes. But for the league, the draft is about so much more than football.
According to NFL Vice President of Philanthropy Alexia Gallagher, “We really want to engage the local community and leave a legacy. These include events that are tied to the NFL’s key cause area, whether that’s youth football, fostering strong communities, to events and projects centered around youth wellness, education opportunities, community greening. We are here for it!”
And so are the community entities, like Habitat for Humanity, which is on the receiving end of that engagement.
Along with other non-profits, Habitat has the opportunity after the draft to collect materials, staging and other items from the draft footprint to recycle for their benefit. Habitat will not only reuse some of the materials, but they will also sell some at their ReStore, with profits being reinvested back into Habitat projects.
Lowe’s, a draft sponsor and partner of the NFL, is sending volunteers, tools, supplies and funding, along with former Packers first round draft pick Clay Matthews, to work on the Habitat Homestead build next week.
“The NFL will be there getting footage and they will be showcasing us during the draft on TV, so that’s incredible exposure for our non-profit,” said Jessica Diederich, CEO of Greater Green Bay Habitat for Humanity.
West De Pere Middle School will also see nationwide exposure.
During an assembly that will be streamed to other schools across the country, seventh and eighth grade students will be participating in the NFL Character Playbook program. Students will join former NFL players for a panel discussion talking about mental wellness, positive school culture and building each other up.
“I’m very excited. It’s a great opportunity to talk about mental health and see retired NFL players,” said eighth grader Eli Graham.
The message coming from outside of the classroom, according to school counselors, will have a greater impact on students.
“I think it will really hit to the kids more. We’re all here together as a school hearing this together, hearing this same message, and it matters. It’s important,” added school counselor Laura Karlen.
And the NFL’s commitment to so many causes proves to the greater Green Bay community it matters just as much as the football.
Diederich said, “Lowe’s and the NFL have both said they want to leave the community better than they found it when they got here, and they’re proving it with all of the things they’re doing with us non-profits.”
Other events that will impact the community include the Prospect Clinic, where draft prospects, youth athletes and Special Olympians will participate in football drills. There’s also a cleanup of the Fox River Trail planned.
The list goes on and on, as the impact of the draft will be felt in Northeast Wisconsin long after that last athlete is drafted.
For a full list of community events and ways to get involved, click here.
