Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson gave 12 children an early Christmas present, as many as they can get in a shopping spree at “Toys R Us” in Houston.
The twelve children were selected by Child Protective Services in an annual event put on by the Andre Johnson Charitable Foundation. All the children that were chosen were children that have been taken out of their homes due to parental abuse. Johnson was pleased to see that the children weren’t just being selfish with their shopping spree.
“All the kids that have been here every year have gotten gifts for their brothers and sisters or cousins or whoever,” he said. “It just shows what they go through that they think about others. It shows what type of kids they are.”
The children are given 80 seconds, Johnson’s jersey number, to fill their blue shopping carts with as many items as possible within the time limit.
Aside from the items the children picked out, each child was also guaranteed to get an entertainment system of their choice and two video games.
“You hear a minute and twenty seconds and you don’t think that’s a long time, but you’d be surprised by what these kids can put into their buckets,” Johnson told Kara Cook of the Texans website.
The children who were taken out of their abused homes now reside with a member of their extended family. Johnson spoke about overcoming the adversity in the homes to not lose focus on your goals in life.
“A lot of these kids get discouraged because of where they grew up and things like that. I grew up in a single-parent home and I was fortunate to achieve my goals. So, whatever goals you have, just keep them out in front of you, don’t let anybody distract you away from them, because there will be distractions that try to detour you away from your goals. That’s the biggest thing.”
Johnson’s foundation picked up the bill for a grand total of $19,521.
