*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: Katie Lions, Anthony Carrie, Lidia Heely
Hometown: Buckeye, OH
How they give back:
Katie, Anthony, Lidia and the rest of the Buckeye students have been collecting t-shirts to send down to the victims of Hurricane Harvey. When asked how many t-shirts they have collected they simply said, "Oh my gosh, you can barely even walk into the room." In addition to collecting t-shirts they are also raising money through the 50/50 raffle at this week's Buckeye High School football game and donating half the proceeds to the victims of Hurricane Harvey. This is a spectacular act of kindness from a group of young people in response to such a devastating disaster.
Name: Rita Dallavalle
Hometown: Sunbury, OH
How they give back:
Rita is one of the four founders for the nonprofit group Spay and Neuter Abandoned Cats and Kittens, Inc. Rita continues to volunteer with the group because she believes they have made a lot of progress in the community. By making the spay/neuter service of cats affordable and accessible, people are willing to get their cats spayed/neutered and that helps prevent overpopulation in the rural areas. Rita says the best part is seeing attitudes change from "I can't do anything about feline overpopulation," to "I want to help the cats and I can do this." She feels fulfilled as a part of this organization because she's giving back by working with a group that helps animals, which she loves.
Name: Steve Orslene
Hometown: Cortland, OH
How they give back:
Steve's family first became involved with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2013 after their son, age 25 took his own life. They found that AFSP had a community walk in their area called 'The Out of the Darkness Walk.' In 2015, his wife became the chairperson for the event in Youngstown and Steve helped her by speaking with businesses and writing multiple emails in order to obtain corporate sponsors and donations for the basket raffle at the event. They continue to support the event as they find it very healing and therapeutic. Steve and his family believe that spreading the word is vital because there is always someone listening and if they're able to save just one life, then they have done their job.
Name: Mickey Ballantyne and Jon Stahl
Hometown: Buckeye, OH
How they give back:
Football fathers Mickey Ballantyne and Jon Stahl were out once again at the Buckeye High School football game this past week. Each week they set up the team's run through. Ballantyne and Stahl ensure the Buckeye blowup arch is prepped and ready to go for the boy's signature run through. It helps hype up the team and adds an extra element to the pregame atmosphere. It's not the most glamorous job but they do it for their boys and the team because it's become a tradition.
Name: Christine Dockrill
Hometown: North Royalton, OH
How they give back:
Christine volunteers her time by giving back to her church. She started this about nine years ago and continues to do it because she likes to give back and is always looking for a way to help out. In addition to volunteering at her church she also helps out at her daughter's school by tutoring the students who are developing beginner reading skills, math facts, word testing and anything else the teacher needs help with.
Interested in signing up your volunteer group for First and Ten? Group forms available! Click here***http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/community/firstandten.html**** 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**
