As the holiday season is upon us, the time of year for goodwill and giving often brings out the onrush of generosity buried within humanity. The spirit of the season sparks our altruistic senses, urging us to do good unto others, to treat those less fortunate than ourselves with kindness and joy.
Sure enough, this philanthropic attitude does not stop short of the world of sports; it embraces professional athletics as a partner in making the world a better place, using it’s national recognition to aide those less fortunate, or in improving a community for all.
Athletes often get short-changed of their charity. They make sums of money that most of us deem as unfathomable, raking in millions as we pay to watch them perform, donning jerseys with their surnames stitched between our shoulder blades. We expect our idols to be perfect, and too often they fall short. But there are beacons of light shining through the cracks in the world of sports, moments of great heart, actions commendable by even the biggest of Scrooges.
LaDainian Tomlinson: can cut on a dime, has a stiff-arm that can turn a jaw inside out, and also takes the time to care. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you won’t find LT at the Jets’ practice facility. He is in a Wal-Mart parking lot, passing out holiday meals. Carrying the tradition from San Diego, he annually gives meals containing canned goods, stuffing, drinks, and 16-pound turkeys to over 2,100 needy families. By Christmas, Tomlinson continues to demonstrate his willingness to help, as his “Touching Lives Holiday Program” gives away over 2,000 toys, books, and videos to children at local hospitals.
Moving from the gridiron to the hardwood of Indiana, we find the generous heart of WNBA star Tamika Catchings. Catchings, a small forward for the Indiana Fever, hosts a fitness clinic for youth players every year before Thanksgiving. It is free to participate, but Catchings asks each child to bring ten canned goods. After the clinic, the kids get to travel with Catchings to the local food bank to make their donation. As December approaches, her foundation, “Catch the Stars,” partners with the Indiana Pacers to host a Christmas party for over 100 disadvantaged children in Indianapolis.
Generosity even spreads to the diamond: Kevin Youkilis, the Boston Red Sox slugger, does charity work through his foundation, “Hits for Kids.” In addition, Youkilis spends Christmas morning visiting patients at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.
Looking at the quarterback in our own backyard, we see the actions of Peyton Manning as ones we can be proud of. Manning established the “Peyback Foundation” in 1999 to help disadvantaged youth by assisting programs that provide growth opportunities for children at risk throughout Indiana, Tennessee, and Louisiana. The foundation has donated over $3.6 million to these areas, and continues to back programs helping underprivileged children. St. Vincent Children’s Hospital was renamed Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent in 2007 after the Colt’s quarterback generously donated a very large sum of money to the hospital, which specializes in treating children with complex, chronic, congenital conditions.
As the holidays surround us, the feeling of generosity urging us to reach out is a feeling we should accept with open arms. Athletes like Catchings and Manning work in our own communities in ways we may not even realize as we watch their prowess during competition. We can turn to people like these, hope in an often dreary world. I now ask you to follow their example of giving during this time of year.
You may not be able to affect people on the scale that professional athletes can, but you can make a difference.
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