The Cleveland Browns are committed to the community. Through First and Ten, the Dawg Pound is encouraged to share what they are doing to give back. Get inspired and check out what these fans are doing to help their community:
How do you give back?
#give10
Name: Shane Parker
Hometown: Cuyahoga Falls, OH
How they give back: Shane has been the head coach for the Cuyahoga Black Tigers for about two years and has been coaching for about 10 years overall. He coaches 9-12 grade high school students and loves being able to build relationships with the athletes and impact them for the rest of their lives. Besides football, he focuses on leadership, character building, and developing skills for success after football. He stated: "I don't rest until I get my guys where they want to go."
Name: Mike Urban
Hometown: Strongsville, OH
How they give back: Mike, the manager of sport services for the Achievement Centers for Children, got started with the Adapted Football League (AFL) when he saw that there was a need for organized, competitive, and safe sports for children and adults with special needs. Currently, the AFL is in its eighth year of working alongside the Cleveland Browns. Mike really loves the AFL as it gives every athlete an opportunity to learn about the game and showcase their abilities. Mike said that "it's a complete community effort" and seeing the kids improve and gain self-confidence throughout the years is especially rewarding.
Name: Faustino Garcia
Hometown: Parma, OH
How they give back: Faustino has been coaching youth flag football for the past 10 years. He originally started when his brother began playing so he could be supportive of his brother, but continued to coach even when his brother moved on. He loves being able to be a positive person in the kids' lives as most don't have a father or big brother figure in their lives. Faustino is so dedicated that when kids cannot afford their own cleats, he pays for them out of his own pocket.
Name: JoAnn Keller
Hometown: Independence, OH
How they give back: JoAnn is the administrative director for the Greater Cleveland Football Coaches Association. She works directly with their social media accounts and is a liaison between the association and its sponsors. This association houses all middle and high schools in Cuyahoga County, and provides these coaches with a multitude of opportunities for education. JoAnn is in charge of setting up these opportunities like bringing college scouts, educating coaches on concussion protocol, and providing the opportunity for networking to occur. JoAnn has been with this organization for 20 years now, and plans to continue on for as long as she can.
Name: Gus Angelone
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
How they give back: This will be Gus' first year coaching the CYO youth football team and he's very excited to get started. Both his boys will be on the team, and he's looking forward to the opportunity to not only bond with them, but also to pass along the wisdom he has about the game and life. He's also excited to learn more about the game of football, and believes that you can always learn something new at any age.
Interested in signing up your volunteer group for First and Ten? Group forms available! **Click here** to learn more about how to #give10
Follow @BrownsGiveBack on Twitter and Instagram and tell us what you are doing to help others using #give10 to unite us all as Browns fans. Give 10 hours, help your community.
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. Since its inception, Browns fans have committed to volunteering more than 1.5 million hours to impact their communities by pledging to #give10. 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
