*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: Marsita Ferguson
Hometown: Painesville, OH
How they give back:
Marsita became involved with the Lake County NAACP after attending a "Begin the Conversation" meeting. This is an initiative in which the Lake County NAACP and the Lake County Prosecutor's Office partner together to tackle difficult race-related issues impacting the climate of our country and many local communities. Marsita continues to support this organization because she resides in one of the most racially diverse cities in a majority driven county. There are many issues and unmet needs throughout our county for the minority culture that she hopes to help address. Marsita's volunteering experience has led her to begin her own nonprofit (Shades of Success) and their program, Girls of the Round Table program. The newly developed program is dedicated to creating equity designed to ensure that their participants can compete for scholarships and extra-curricular activities that boost G.P.A.'s and help motivate their young women to attend college or vocational training.
Name: Diane Ley
Hometown: Sylvania, OH
How they give back:
Diane started giving back when her oldest son was a freshman, by chaperoning her son's band camp. Diane is currently on her seventh year of volunteering with the camp and has put in well over 100 hours each year. She says that the reason why she continues to give back is because of the students and says it's fun to watch them grow over the years.
Name: David Wolfe
Hometown: Poland, OH
How they give back:
David started volunteering with the Poland Community Baseball Association (PCBA) in 2001, when his oldest son started playing baseball. David has kept volunteering his time as each of his six children gone through the league. He continues to volunteer because he really enjoys coaching the kids and wants to make sure they continue to have the opportunity to play this great game. David also says one of best parts of volunteering for this non-profit comes from helping the less-skilled players improve. "It's easy to see the talented kids progress, but when those who struggle eventually see success, it is a true blessing."
Name: Brandice Ryan
Hometown: Niles, Ohio
How they give back:
Brandice started volunteering with the local school band when her son was a freshmen and the following year she took over as concession chair for the Boosters, where she has continued doing it for three years now. Brandice says that volunteering has helped her become more committed. She wants to be there and watch these kids grow from freshmen to seniors and sometimes she get to see those kids come back as adults and see how much they have grown and loves it.
Name: Perry Youth Football League
Hometown: Perry, OH
How they give back:
Teams in the Perry Youth Football league are going above and beyond to #give10 in the light of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. A former player of theirs recently moved to Huffman, TX which is a suburb of Houston that was hit hard by the hurricane. PYFL is working with the player's new youth football league, the Huffman Youth Athletic Association (HYAA), to get aid and supplies to them. A father of another member of the team is getting a covered dump truck to drive all the way to Huffman, TX to deliver what PYFL collects. Then the HYAA players will distribute the items where they are needed. It's such a great story of teammates helping teammates. The group has been collecting donations all week at the practice field and they've also asked surrounding community football leagues to get involved. The solidarity is amazing and the giving is contagious. Way to go boys, #give10!**
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**
