2007 Hometown Huddle
United Way and the National Football League
The NFL and United Way Hometown Huddle is a collection of hands-on volunteer projects implemented simultaneously on a single Tuesday in different NFL cities across the country.
In 2007, 22 Hometown Huddle events were focused on youth fitness in projects ranging from teaching the basic concepts of fitness and nutrition to building fitness zones like the iGym which uses video games to make exercise feel like playtime.
Arizona Cardinals
Valley of the Sun United Way
Arizona Cardinals players got together with the Valley of the Sun United Way to host a kids' training camp to promote physical fitness. About 100 kids from Thew Elementary School and 25 Special Olympians participated in the camp at the Cardinals' complex in Tempe where the kids were given a firsthand look at how their imageborder team prepares for the season.
In addition, the Cardinals are building a fitness zone to be unveiled in January 2008. The zone will benefit Valley youth.
Participants:
Terrence Holt, Mike Barr, Troy Bienemann, and Lyle Sendlein
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Carolina Panthers
United Way of Central Carolinas
The Carolina Panthers joined the United Way of Central Carolinas at J. M. Robinson Middle School to announce a new youth fitness partnership with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. To celebrate the NFL's national launch of the "Play 60" youth fitness initiative, which encourages kids to get 60 minutes of physical activity each day, the Panthers announced the establishment of a mobile HOPSports fitness system that will serve 32 area middle schools. Panthers lineman Jordan Gross demonstrated some of the equipment, like the agility ladder, to 60 J .M. Robinson students.
The HOPSports program provides physical education teachers and students with a diverse curriculum that exposes students to a wide variety of sports and fitness activities and is a complement to the Panthers Fit Squad elementary fitness program. The HOPSports technology combines physical activity with technology to provide an interactive workout that is designed for the kids to enjoy while being active.
Participants:
Jordan Gross
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Chicago Bears
United Way of Lake County
Bears rookies joined the United Way at Whittier School in Waukegan for a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil a newly transformed playground. The players demonstrated active learning games and tested out the equipment at the new Fitness and Learning Zone with over 300 students from Whittier and Daniel Webster Middle School.
The new playground includes an expanded jungle gym with colorful stenciled letters, numbers, and shapes that mix learning with physically active games for children. Signs written in English and Spanish describe each of the learning activities so parents can help younger children learn their numbers and alphabet.
Participants:
Greg Olsen, Garrett Wolfe, Mike Okwo, Josh Beekman, Corey Graham, Trumaine McBride, Kevin Payne, Greg Fassitt, Josh Gattis, Fontel Mines, and Dan Bazuin.
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Cincinnati Bengals
United Way of Greater Cincinnati
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis' charitable foundation oversaw the transformation of an underutilized Cincinnati park. By the end of a rainy, muddy day, Seasongood Square Park in Avondale had changed from an eyesore into an urban oasis - thanks to nearly 40 Bengals players and 350 volunteers who spent Hometown Huddle Day digging, shoveling mulch, and putting together equipment for two playground areas, a fitness course, picnic benches, and barbecue grills.
Participants:
Levi Jones, Andrew Whitworth, Kenny Watson, DeDe Dorsey, Chris Manderino, Chinedum Ndukwe, Daniel Coats, and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
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Cleveland Browns
United Way of Greater Cleveland
United Way of Greater Cleveland partnered with the Cleveland Browns Foundation and National City Bank to create a youth Fitness Zone for preteens and teens in the Goodrich-Gannett Neighborhood Center in Cleveland. In conjunction with the NFL's "Play 60" Platform, which encourages kids to get 60 minutes of activity a day, the project is the first of its kind to specifically and positively address the problem of declining physical fitness and obesity affecting America's youth.
Browns players and staff joined community volunteers to build the facility, landscape the grounds, and enhance an outdoor playground. Once assembly of the exercise machines was completed, players demonstrated the equipment to neighborhood youths.
The brand-new fitness activity zone has a multi-station workout machine, rock climbing wall, punching bags, fitness stations, pull-up bars, new flooring, wall murals, floor mats and a game area.
Participants:
Brodney Pool, Sean Jones, Joshua Cribbs, Jerome Harrison, Syndric Steptoe, Lennie Friedman, Chase Pittman, and Shaun Smith.
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Denver Broncos
Mile High United Way
The Denver Broncos and Mile High United Way brought together kids from the Broncos Boys and Girls Club in Montbello for an afternoon of exercise and to stress the importance of youth fitness, staying in school, and to encourage kids to participate in positive after-school activities. Over 120 kids were put through drills at five different exercise stations, each focusing on a football fundamental and hosted by a Broncos player.
Mile High United Way's Youth Success initiative is focused on helping at-risk youth overcome obstacles and graduate from high school. One of the core strategies of the Youth Success initiative is to support after-school activities, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, as well as other programs that foster healthy youth development.
Participants:
Brian Clark, Chris Myers, Brandon Marshall, Domonique Foxworth, and Ring of Fame member Billy Thompson.
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Detroit Lions
United Way for Southeastern Michigan
United Way for Southeastern Michigan joined forces with the Detroit Lions and the Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan to help build a fitness trail. Players, other volunteers and area youth met at the Dick and Sandy Dauch Campus, home of the new NFL/Youth Education Town - Boys & Girls Club. Players worked together to help defray the expenses of the $65,000 fitness trail project. They spent the day hauling mulch and spreading soil to build the trail and then watched as the kids played on the new equipment at the trail stations. The stations include a leg-stretch, chin-up, step-up, balance beam, knee-raise, sit-up, high jump, spring-up, push-up and hand walk.
The trail surrounds the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Athletic Field, located at the Gardenview Estates in Detroit.
Participants:
Ikaika Alama-Francis, Ron Bellamy, Jon Bradley, Shaun Cody, Jared DeVries, George Foster, Mike Furrey, Nick Harris, Alex Lewis, Langston Moore, Dan Orlovsky, Blaine Saipaia, and Dewayne White.
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Houston Texans
United Way of Greater Houston
Members of the Houston Texans team joined forces with United Way of Greater Houston to provide a health and fitness event that encouraged students at Turner Elementary to adopt health lifestyles, succeed in school, and set positive life goals. The players introduced the fourth and fifth graders to the basic concepts of health and fitness while leading them in stretching warm up exercises, drills, and interactive games.
Each student received a copy of the Get Fit Be Active guide prepared by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. In addition, the Texans will oversee the installation of the HOPSports fitness system at the school, which will serve to equip the students with the knowledge and skills needed to adopt a fit and healthy lifestyle. The system includes sports curriculum, mats, exercise equipment, heart rate monitors and a portable defibrillator for use in case of sudden cardiac arrest.
Participants:
Fred Bennett, Eduardo Castaneda, Brandon Frye, Jacoby Jones, Brandon Mitchell, Amobi Okoye, DelJuan Robinson, Kasey Studdard, and Darius Walker.
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Indianapolis Colts
United Way of Central Indiana
United Way of Central Indiana and the Indianapolis Colts got together to provide an event that focused on the importance of fitness in everyday life. Two hundred children, grades 2 through 6, worked their way though 10 fitness stations at the Colts Facility, learning the importance of a healthy body and mind. Players and cheerleaders met with the children and encouraged their progress.
Participants:
Jemalle Cornelius, Clifton Dawson, Justice Hairston, Corey Hilliard, Melivin Bullitt, TJ Rushing, Craphonso Thorpe, and Victor Worsley
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Jacksonville Jaguars
United Way of Northeast Florida
The Jacksonville Jaguars and United Way of Northeast Florida joined forces at the Woodland Acres Boys and Girls Club and Woodland Acres Elementary School to provide a day of fitness to more than 250 Arlington youth. Volunteers helped Jaguar players construct a new, state-of-the-art playground set and provided additional landscaping for the recreational area. After the playground assembly, the Jaguar players and Roar cheerleaders led the students in field games including sack races, dodge ball and flag football.
In addition, a second group of Jaguar players and volunteers led a training camp at Woodland Acres Elementary. More than 200 students from the TEAM UP program participated in a challenge course consisting of four fitness stations. They also learned tips from Jaguars players on the best way to block a tackle, throw a pass, and stay healthy and active every day.
Participants:
Walter Curry, Kenny Petway, Clint Ingram, and Tony McDaniel
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Kansas City Chiefs
United Way of Greater Kansas City
Kansas City Chiefs players joined the United Way of Greater Kansas City and more than 300 volunteers to build a new playground at the Boys and Girls Club in Independence, Missouri. They prepared the ground, dug holes, poured concrete, moved wood chips and put up new playground equipment. In addition to the playground, volunteers painted murals, installed benches and did landscaping to spruce up the club.
The playground is a type of "Chiefs Fitness Zone," which means that the playground will continue the NFL's "Play60" campaign that focuses on encouraging children to say active and physically fit.
Participants:
Derrick Johnson
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New England Patriots
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley
The New England Patriots joined the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley for a day of health and fitness at the Jordan Boys and Girls Club in Chelsea. The club has begun a nutrition and fitness initiative, so the Patriots talked with youth about the importance of eating healthy and keeping active. The players then gave the kids a cooking lesson in the club's kitchen, where they taught them how to create easy healthy snacks for after-school or between meals. The kids then joined the Patriots for some athletic drills and football training basics that they can learn and replicate on their own.
Participants:
Ty Warren, Ellis Hobbs, Eric Alexander and Willie Andrews
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New Orleans Saints
United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area
Saints players helped the United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area renovate Lakeview Playground and install a Youth Fitness Zone. The Fitness Cluster, designed for kids ages 5 to 12, is a fun way for them to improve their balance, strength, and agility during outdoor play. The Cluster includes a curved balance beam, C-horizontal ladder, sit-up/push-up bench, parallel bars, chin-up bar, leg lift and an exercise instructional sign.
After speaking to the children from Dibert Elementary School about being active and maintaining a healthy diet, Drew Brees led them in a series of exercises including jumping jacks and running around a small track. Players then joined the students in building and painting a new track in the playground, which received substantial damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Participants:
Drew Brees, Eric Johnson, Billy Miller, Mark Simoneau, Mike McKenzie, and Troy Evans.
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New York Giants
Bergen County's United Way
The Giants and Bergen County's United Way joined forces to install family fitness stations and equipment at 20th Century Field in Garfield, NJ. The players worked with Garfield employees to finish off two of the seven fitness zones that will eventually complete the park's walking path.
The new Giants Family Path is comprised of play stations that allow parents to work out while their children exercise on the same equipment in front of them. All of the children's activities promote play that enhances motor skills, reasoning, and general strength, while the adult components focus on core strengthening exercises.
Participants:
Kawika Mitchell, David Tyree, Craig Dahl, and Brandon London
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New York Jets
United Way of Morris County
The Jets, in coordination with United Way of Morris County, helped complete renovations to the Morristown Neighborhood House. Jets players rolled up their sleeves and grabbed the green paint to put the finishing touches on the gymnasium walls. Later the players conducted fitness drills with kids and then played a game of flag football.
The Mission of the Neighborhood House is to provide families and youth with a community-based support system which will strengthen their ability to cope in today's rapidly changing and complex society by providing a broad range of community services. The new gymnasium will provide thousands of local kids and teens with a safe place to play sports.
Participants:
James Dearth, Eric Smith, Sione Pouha, David Harris, Jacob Bender, Darrelle Revis, and retired offensive lineman Dave Szott
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Philadelphia Eagles
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Players from the Philadelphia Eagles joined the United Way and City Year Greater Philadelphia volunteers at Warren G. Harding Middle School for a health-conscious Hometown Huddle. Thirty students from the school participated in the event, which included kick-boxing and agility ladder activities under the direction of the Eagles players.
Prior to the event, the Eagles donated a HOPSports Fitness System to the school, including custom training mats, jumping ropes, and a video system. The HOPSports program provides physical education teachers and students with a diverse curriculum that exposes students to a wide variety of sports and fitness activities.
Participants:
Chris Gocong and Hank Baskett
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Pittsburgh Steelers
United Way of Allegheny County
The Steelers and the United Way of Allegheny County joined forces with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and STRIVE to create a Steelers Fitness Zone at the Boys & Girls Club in Millvale, PA. The players took part in the dedication and put their hand prints in gold paint on a black board that will remain in the room. Afterwards, they helped teach the kids how to use the new equipment and played basketball with them.
The black and gold workout room has youth-oriented fitness equipment that the kids can use to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Participants:
Charlie Batch and the entire Steelers Rookie Club
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San Francisco 49ers
United Way Bay Area
The 49ers partnered with the United Way Bay Area to make over the Rec Connect Gilman Park Clubhouse in San Francisco's Bayview/Hunters Point district. Dozens of volunteers helped the 49ers paint the clubhouse, picnic tables, bathrooms, lines on athletic courts, and softball field backstop and bleachers; assemble garden boxes; and install flower box fences.
In addition, a new ping-pong table and additional equipment were purchased for the clubhouse.
Rec Connect pairs community-based organizations with local recreation centers to provide and expand free programs and activities in five key recreation sites in San Francisco's highest need neighborhoods.
Participants:
Donald Strickland, Jason Hill, Nate Clements, Arnaz Battle, Darrell Jackson, Ashley Lelie, and Parys Haralson
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Seattle Seahawks
United Way of King County
The Seahawks partnered with the United Way of King County to demonstrate some of the equipment in the HOPSports program, which the Seahawks donated to Dimmit Middle School. The HOPSports program provides physical education teachers and students with a diverse curriculum that exposes students to a wide variety of sports and fitness activities which combine physical activity with technology to provide an interactive workout that is designed for the kids to enjoy while being active.
There were kids from the middle school and the nearby Boys and Girls Club in attendance.
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St. Louis Rams
United Way of Greater St. Louis
The Rams and United Way joined the Healthy Youth Partnership (HYP) to create a Rams Fitness Zone at the Wohl Recreation Center in St. Louis. The Rams players worked out with about 60 elementary school students from Clark and Lexington Elementary Schools utilizing the HOPSports technology, which combines physical activity with technology to provide an interactive workout that is designed for the kids to enjoy while being active.
Along with demonstrating a variety of workouts, the players also talked to the kids about eating right. In the nutrition classes, kids were given information to help them understand the importance of eating right along with exercising, as well as making good decisions like not smoking.
A bag of healthy snacks that included tips on how to eat healthy and information for nearby United Way-funded agencies was handed out to each of the children at the end of the event.
Participants:
Chris Draft, Tim McGarigle, Richard Owens, Justin Phinisee, and Clifton Ryan
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
United Way of Tampa Bay
The Buccaneer players and the United Way of Tampa Bay gathered at Sulphur Springs Elementary School to present new physical education equipment to the school. The badly needed equipment consisted of jump ropes, hula hoops, baseballs, softballs and gloves, footballs, playground balls, soccer balls and goals, basketballs and nets, and volleyball nets.
Before the arrival of the equipment, Matt Lehr and Ike Hilliard addressed the students about the importance of giving back to one's community. But after the equipment arrived, it was all fun and games: the Bucs players divided into two groups to help the kids play with all their new equipment.
Participants:
Sammy Davis, Ike Hilliard, Matt Lehr, and Maurice Stovall
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Washington Redskins
United Way of America
The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation partnered with United Way of America to create an iGym at the YMCA in Alexandria, VA. The iGym is an interactive fitness zone that combines video gaming with age- and interest-appropriate workout equipment designed to make exercise feel like playtime. The gym features a rock climbing wall, a boxing program, game bikes, dance revolution pads, cardiovascular equipment, sport wall, and a health and science computer lab.
Redskins players also lead approximately 100 kids from Alexandria YMCA's after-school and Physically Healthy Driven (PHD) programs in a fitness fair where the children learned about the benefits of good nutrition and health.
Participants:
Chris Wilson, Leigh Torrence, and Matt Sincl
