Through the signature First and Ten volunteer movement, over twenty Cleveland Browns Stadium Operations team members dedicated their Monday morning to giving back to the community. On March 5, Browns staff helped package and distribute produce at University Settlement.
University Settlement is a non-profit agency that services the Broadway/Slavic Village neighborhood in Cleveland. The organization offers fresh produce and bread to the community every Monday. In order to prepare for pickup, volunteers are needed to organize and package the food.
Development Manager, Kaitlin Armocida, thanked the Browns volunteers for being on site. "The thing I love is that these volunteers work to meet the community needs but everyone does it with the utmost dignity and respect."
Browns staff arrived first thing Monday morning to help unload food from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and begin the packaging process.
"It's the right thing to do," says Building Engineer Kimmer Rodgers, "It feels good to give back and see our organization making a difference."
While some Browns staff members worked on packaging up the food, others prepared the distribution center for pickup. Although the community cannot take the food until 11am, people come as early as 9am to get their produce.
For some staff members, volunteering with University Settlement hit close to home. "This placed helped me back in the day and I can't thank them enough," said Stadium Security Officer Mike Sims. "They offered helpful classes and fixed my computer!"
Stadium Engineer Jennifer Lawlis shared how she was grateful to give back to the community she once lived in. "I came from this situation and it feels great to give back."
The Browns helped University settlement receive 10,195 pounds of fresh produce including cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, celery, onions, apples, and bread. They helped 132 households receive food, which was a total of 300 people.
"It feels good to give back," said Stadium Security Officer Bill Davis. "We are very fortunate and we do this out of the good of our hearts."
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
