Miles
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- Mar 18, 2019
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The event’s origin dates back to the Broncos’ Round with the Rookies fundraiser in May. The event, sponsored by Coca-Cola, raised $25,000.
After the event, the Denver Broncos Charities organization opted to let the rookies decide how the money would be used.
“Since the event was rookie-driven and all the rookies attended, it was important to us as an organization that they had a say in how those funds were being used in their brand-new community,” Broncos Executive Director of Community Development Allie Engelken said. “So, they met as a rookie class, they discussed ways they wanted to support this community and they actually voted and decided on how they were going to use those funds.”
The group, led by Noah Fant, Dalton Risner and Drew Lock, discussed their options, and voted to support Kids Crossing, an organization based in Colorado Springs that aims to help provide homes and temporary care for children in foster care. The foundation’s Denver office serves about 30 children per month, the majority of whom are teenagers.
“We wanted to make the biggest impact we could, and knowing there’s underprivileged kids out there that don’t get very good Christmases,” Fant said. “… We thought it was a great avenue for us to take to kind of make a couple kids’ Christmases the best possible.”
The majority of the funds went toward paying for the gifts. Some of the players even shopped for the gifts themselves. In addition, $5,000 was held donated to the organization for programmatic expenses, and the rest will help provide supplies for kids making their transitions out of foster care.
“We were excited when the rookies selected Kids Crossing as the partner organization for this event,” Engelken said. “Hosting teenagers this evening is so important because teenage boys in the foster care system are often the kids and the ages that get overlooked for holiday events. For the players to identify a segment of the foster care system doesn’t receive a lot support, this shows that they were thoughtful about who they wanted to impact and what they wanted to utilize their funding for.”
Being a part of the process brought the rookies closer and made them all the more invested in the outcome of their chosen cause.
“It’s quite a journey,” cornerback Alijah Holder said. “It feels like it really wasn’t that long ago, A Round with the Rookies at TopGolf. But it’s crazy how much money we raised at that event that’s gone toward here. … That just says what kind of influence we have on the community and what we can do with that money and really that power we have. It’s really awesome to be a part of this. … I think it’s going to be extra special for all of us.”
That kind of anxious anticipation was palpable before the kids arrived, and not just because they were excited to see them peel back the gift wrapping on an Xbox or a pair of Jordans.
“Honestly, I’m just excited to meet them and the parents that they bring,” Fant said. “It’s going to be great to see them open their presents, but I’m enjoying that relationship that’s going to get built and having fun and just enjoying their company and trying to really just make an impact on their lives and their mentality and how they’re going about their lives.”