Viktor
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,552
- 0
And while many of the students were Vikings fans before Wednesday’s event, it’s likely that a few more were gained throughout the afternoon.
Mark Graves, South Minneapolis Area Supervisor for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, called it a “special” experience that won’t soon be forgotten. He referred to the players as “larger-than-life characters” that often feel inaccessible to the young fans who look up to them.
He pointed out that initiative like this one, however, humanizes the professional athletes and demonstrates how much they care.
“When you actually get a chance to stand next to them, talk to them, and they know your name, I think for anybody, but especially for young people, it’s a reachable dream – ‘This person is not larger than life. He’s a normal person, and he’s talking to me, he’s friendly, and I know his name,’ ” Graves explained. “I think it was huge for these young people to get a chance to meet and see these players.”
Wednesday’s event marked the Vikings second “Team Up to Give Back,” which has replaced the annual playground build that the team did for 12 years.
Vikings Executive Director of Social Impact Brett Taber explained that the playground build was a valuable endeavor, but the organization opted to go a different direction in order to support various areas of need in the Twin Cities.
“ ‘Team Up to Give Back’ is about identifying a need in the community every year and helping to solve that need with the help of all of our players, staff and the entire Vikings organization,” Taber said. “Next year, we could be looking at a whole new project.”
Prior to the team’s arrival in the afternoon, Vikings staff members – along with U.S. Bank employees and members of HandsOn Twin Cities – spent the morning onsite tackling various projects.
From organizing and cleaning the attic, to deep-cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms and repainting numerous rooms, to creating artwork to place throughout the facility, it was all hands on deck. And there were plenty of smiles, as well.
The Southside Village Boys & Girls Club is the Twin Cities’ smallest location but serves the greatest population of young people, welcoming approximately 150 students per day during the school year and nearly 200 per day throughout the summer.
Vikings Foundation Program Coordinator Monterae Carter, who called the community center the “smallest but the mightiest,” said this particular location was a perfect fit for the organization’s outreach.
“What’s really important to us, first and foremost, is that our staff feels like they’re actually making an impact in addition to our team,” Carter said. “The direction we got this year is, we wanted to work directly with kids or for kids, specifically inner-city, was directed by our players. And we also wanted to really do something that this community deserved.
“It was great,” Carter continued. “Everybody knows what Boys & Girls Clubs do, and we all have gone to one, been impacted by one or know someone who has – so it’s really an easy choice when picking community partners.”
Wednesday’s event was part of NFL 100, the League’s celebration of its 100th season. As part of this initiative, the NFL has set a goal of fans across the country donating 100 million minutes of their time to make an impact on the community. The Vikings are encouraging their fans to join in and give back.
“Whether you go online to NFL.com/100 and donate your minutes, whether you reach out to the Vikings organization with a volunteer event you’re doing, or whether you go on social media and use #VikingsHuddlefor100, you can help share those minutes with the Vikings organization and prove that Minnesota is truly the most philanthropic community in the entire country,” Taber said.