Team work pays off for more than 500 youth & volunteers who earned their seat to the HONOR ROWS
Honor Rows is a unique program that empowers disadvantaged youth to reach beyond their challenging circumstances. With assistance from 150 mentors/volunteers, roughly 350 youth from the agencies noted below learned the value of team work while earning their seat to the Jaguars Foundation Honor Rows. Some youth worked together to plan a group-oriented community service project, some designed educational lessons to help their classmates improve their reading, and still others worked to plant and maintain a garden at their school for a class science project.
Seated in the 300-level section of the North End Zone, boys and girls worked hard to improve their academic performance, engaged in positive behavior, and participated in a variety of community service projects. In addition, all youth made and kept a tobacco-, alcohol- and drug-free pledge with support from their parents and mentors.
Note that at the end of the first quarter, Delores and Wayne Weaver will wave in congratulations to the youth and their agencies for persevering and earning their seat to today's game. Please join the Weavers and other fans in The Wave.
Honor Rows is an innovative program that uses seats at Jaguars home games as incentives for youth to set and achieve ambitious but realistic goals.
Its flexibility allows nonprofit agencies to design their own unique program and to determine
how best to use the seats to reward their participants.
This season, more than 3,500 seats have been awarded to 39 agencies with multiple programs. Each Honor Rows participant receives a special T-shirt, hat, free meal, certificate of achievement and recognition at the stadium during the game.
Yet, the personal goals and skills each youth attains have a long-lasting impact on their future.
Honor Rows was instituted in 1995 during the Jacksonville Jaguars inaugural season, "The Season of Firsts." The Jaguars Foundation is sponsored by Reebok and ALLTEL, with additional support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The United Way of NE Florida mobilizes game-day volunteers who ensure the safety and enjoyment of Honor Rows participants. Through the Sports Philanthropy Project, the Jaguars Foundation serves as a demonstration site for other sports leagues and franchises.
The following agencies will be present for Sunday's game:
The Bridge of NE Florida (200 seats)
Duval County 4-H Foundation (85)
EPIC Community Services (90)
Heart to Heart S.A.V.E. Program (60)
The Webb Center (50)
YMCA Arlington Branch (50)
For more information about The Foundation's Honor Rows Program or other Foundation initiatives, please contact Tarek Tabet at 633-6579 or by email at tabett@jaguars.nfl.com.
