JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Jaguars players and staff are committed to the Northeast Florida community. During this festive season and year-round, the organization and its people are embedded in this community and strive to make a difference in the lives of our fellow residents.
Striving to build a better Jacksonville together, the Jaguars organization has been involved in a holiday season of giving with more than 250 volunteers donating more than 760 volunteer hours and nearly $135,000 which helped 375 kids/families. Highlights include:
Holidays with Travon Walker at Neighborhood Heroz, Dec. 16
The Travon Walker Foundation hosted its inaugural Huddle Up for the Holidays with Travon Walker at a local barbershop, Neighborhood Heroz. This special event was designed to spread holiday cheer and create lasting memories for 10 deserving teenagers—5 boys and 5 girls—who are members of the Boys & Girls Club and have military ties. The evening featured a true barbershop talk experience, where the teenagers not only received haircuts and manicures, but also had the chance to engage in meaningful conversations with Walker and others in a relaxed, community-driven environment. Each participant also received holiday gifts and a meal, ensuring they felt celebrated and appreciated during the festive season.
Jaguars DE Travon Walker invited 10 Boys and Girls Club Members to his local barbershop for an evening of pampering, consisting of nails, haircuts, dinner and special time Travon spent mentoring these individuals. These kids left feeling their best for the holiday season! 🎄
Arik Armstead Backpack Stuffing, Dec. 17
The families of DE Arik Armstead and GM Trent Baalke and representatives from Lakeside Elementary School in Orange Park packed backpacks filled with healthy foods at the Miller Electric Center. Forty students were sent home this week with multiple bags of food to help them over the holiday break.
Backpack stuffing helps supplement meals for the students over the weekends and holiday breaks when they do not have access to school breakfast or lunch. Through the Armstead Academic Project, Armstead and his wife Mindy donated $20,000 to the school to start this program to help students experiencing food insecurity by providing food-filled backpacks to take home every Friday.
Arik Armstead and volunteers packed more than 100 bags with food items for families from Lakeside Elementary to kick off the school's new food insecurity program funded by the Armstead Academic Project. DE Arik Armstead is our Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee and we are proud of all the work he does in our local Jacksonville community.
Shop with a Jaguar, Dec. 17
For the 8th year, Jaguars players helped 325 Jacksonville-area children with their holiday shopping for themselves and their loved ones. CB Tyson Campbell and DE Travon Walker shopped with 100 kids from Sponsored by Grace and MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation at Academy Sports + Outdoors, while LB Foye Oluokun, DT DaVon Hamilton, WR Parker Washington and DL Esezi Otomewo assisted 225 kids from the Boys & Girls Club with their gift purchases at Walmart. Each child at both locations received dinner, a shirt, Jaguars swag and a $150 gift card for their shopping spree. Additionally, QB Mac Jones and LB Devin Lloyd contributed funds to pay for the gift cards which were funded by participating Jaguars players.
Jaguars players teamed up to provide an unforgettable holiday season for 325 local kids, providing $150 gifts cards for Academy Sports and Walmart. Tyson Campbell, Travon Walker, Foye Oluokun, Parker Washington and more spent the evening make sure the kids picked out awesome gifts that made their holiday season a little extra special. 🎁🎄 Swipe through top photos from the event. ➡️
Four One For All Foundation Christmas Party, Dec. 17
DE Josh Hines-Allen and his Four One For All Foundation hosted a Christmas party at Grove Park Elementary School in Orange Park for 10 pre-selected, deserving families. Each family enjoyed a catered dinner from True Food Kitchen, gingerbread house decorating, DJ Christmas music, meeting Santa and opening gifts from their wish lists.
Spreading holiday cheer! 🎄✨ Josh Hines-Allen, his wife Kaitlyn, and their incredible foundation, Four One For All, hosted a heartwarming Christmas party at Grove Park Elementary School in Jacksonville. 🎁❤️ Ten families came together to enjoy a festive evening filled with delicious food, fun crafts, lively music, and unforgettable entertainment.
Ronald McDonald House with Jaguars Special Teams, Dec. 18
Jaguars specialists P Logan Cooke, LS Ross Matiscik and K Cam Little and team mascot Jaxson de Ville visited children and their families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville. The players donated $10,000 towards toys that were gifted to the children and their families. The evening was full of excitement as kids opened presents, played games with Jaguars players and took pictures with the players and Santa.
'Tis the season ❤️ Jaguars special teams players K Cam Little, LS Ross Matiscik and P Logan Cooke spent an evening embracing the holiday spirit, playing christmas games and visiting with Santa at the Ronald McDonald House!
12 Days of Teal, (Dec. 18-29)
This holiday season, the Jaguars Foundation is giving back to the Northeast Florida community in a new and exciting way. Through '12 Days of Teal,' the Jaguars Foundation and FIS committed to donating $60,000 worth of grants to 12 deserving nonprofits in the Jacksonville community, including Women's Center of Jacksonville, Angels for Allison and Sanctuary on 8th and others. These grants are designed to assist and uplift organizations who work tirelessly to make Jacksonville better. Each organization will be highlighted via social media leading up to Dec. 29.
For posts regarding each organization, please visit the Jaguars Foundation Instagram or view Jaguars Foundation web article.
Jaguars staff have also been filled with the giving spirit through countless volunteers hours and investment in our community for the holidays. Through the Jaguars staff annual Angel Tree, 90 angels from three different organizations (Betty Griffin Center, Historic Eastside CDC, and Heart for Children) were supported this holiday season. Additionally, staff have participated in various volunteer and donation opportunities with area nonprofits including Ronald McDonald House, Salvation Army, Historic Eastside CDC, Heart 4 Children, Betty Griffin Center, Rethreaded, Hubbard House and others.