The Cleveland Browns will host their annual First and Ten Food Drive before Sunday's AFC North game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Greater Cleveland Food Bank volunteers will begin collecting donations outside of FirstEnergy Stadium at 11 a.m. when gates open.
This year's First and Ten Food Drive, presented by Cleveland State University, provides fans the opportunity to support the holiday efforts of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank leading into the 2016 holiday season. Prior to entering the stadium, fans with or without tickets are encouraged to drop off non-perishable canned food items, including the Super Six of cereal, soup, vegetables, beef stew, peanut butter and tuna fish, to assist local families in need during the holiday season. Monetary contributions will also be accepted, with each dollar donated being enough to provide four nutritious meals to individuals in the Greater Cleveland area.
Fans who make a donation will receive an official orange Browns #give10 wristband as part of the First and Ten movement.
Through the generosity of Browns fans last year, the First and Ten Food Drive helped provide 25,000 meals to Northeast Ohio families in need.
On Tuesday, Browns players, alumni and staff, as well as the Browns Women Organization, will also #give10 at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank by preparing Thanksgiving meals and packaging food items to be sent to local shelters, food pantries and food sites throughout Northeast Ohio. The gathering is one of many jointly hosted events by the Browns and Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a community partner of the First and Ten campaign, as the groups help fight hunger and ensure families have access to nutritious meals throughout the year, particularly during high times of need like the winter holidays
The Browns are dedicated to #give10 through the team's First and Ten initiative. Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team's community program, established to inspire fans to volunteer in and help their communities throughout the world by volunteering for 10 hours each year. Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community. All Browns fans are encouraged to join the volunteering effort by signing the First and Ten pledge on the team's website and by sharing their stories with #give10. For more information or to sign the pledge, visit www.clevelandbrowns.com/community
About Greater Cleveland Food Bank:
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a community partner of the Cleveland Browns First and Ten program, has a mission to ensure that everyone in the community has the nutritious food they need on a daily basis. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in Northeast Ohio, supplying more than 50 million meals in 2015 to individuals in Ashland, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Richland counties throughout the year. A $1 donation to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank is enough to provide four nutritious meals to Northeast Ohioans in need.
