Browns staff, players and alumni took part in the Browns' seventh annual Summer Blitz event Tuesday, spending time working on projects under the far-reaching umbrella of Browns Give Back.

This year's Summer Blitz saw a record number of participants, with over 105 staff members spending time volunteering. Volunteers completed a wide variety of projects representing the three core areas of Browns Give Back: education, youth football and social justice.

"It's the offseason right now and people are thinking of the upcoming season but behind the scenes, there's so much work to be done to really make a huge impact in the local community through our Browns Give Back initiatives," Vice President of Community Relations Jenner Tekancic said.

As the clouds over CrossCountry Mortgage Campus retreated, volunteers assembled field benches, bicycles and picnic tables. The field benches will be used at the new field at Garfield Heights High School, the Browns' 15^th Field Project installation since the team’s initiative launched in May 2016.

"To see our staff that's able to come out here and build benches that are now going to be at our 15^th field that we're installing in Northeast Ohio … and to see something built from scratch to be used by athletes and kids in the local community, it's just rewarding," Tekancic said. "It's kind of the gift that keeps on giving."

In conjunction with the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Browns staff members put together pencil pouches and hygiene kits as part of the Browns Stay in the Game! Attendance Network, a statewide movement dedicated to dramatically improving student attendance. They also assembled incentive kits for Stay in the Game! Attendance Network districts ahead of the 2024-25 school year, as well as student, teacher and bulletin board kits, and wrote encouraging cards for the students.

"Through the Summer Blitz projects benefiting Stay in the Game! we're able to support students, educators and school districts as they prepare for the upcoming school year. It's important that they have the resources they need to start the school year strong, and we hope to make a meaningful impact through our support," Vice President of the Cleveland Browns Foundation Renee Harvey said.

Volunteers also prepared for quarterback Deshaun Watson's second annual 7-on-7 tournament held on July 17 and assembled flag football toolkits for students to use next season as part of the second year of the Browns Flag-In-Schools program.

"You see our Browns Flag-in-Schools initiative being profiled because we're trying to reach boys and girls and teach them the game of football," Tekancic said.

As staff members enjoyed the music and food – catered by Cleveland-based Afro-Caribbean style restaurant Yum Village as an extension of Cleveland Huddle and part of the Browns' continued efforts to support local black-owned businesses through their #BeTheSolution platform – Tekancic reflected on the emphasis the Browns put on community service.

"It's just a really beautiful event and we encourage staff to get 10 hours of community service each year," Tekancic said. "We're really proud that we do have 100 percent of our staff who achieve our goal, so this is just a fun opportunity to bring us all together."