BALTIMORE—Although their days as Ravens teammates recently came to an end, two of the NFL’s finest didn’t let that stop them from helping get the school year off to a good start for needy area youth.
Running back Ray Rice and wide receiver Derrick Mason partnered with Diakon Kathryn’s Kloset and Sun Products Corporation to provide backpacks, school supplies, vision and hearing screenings and dental supplies to children and families in need.
“Being in a position that enables me to give back is such a blessing to me,” Rice said. “My goal is to give these kids the tools they need to learn. I want them to know they can be anything they want in life.”
Rice, Mason and others involved provided approximately 1,000 backpacks to at-risk and in-need children. The youth received back-to-school assistance through the Ray Rice Charitable Fund and the Derrick Mason Foundation.
“I have spent the last six years of my career in Baltimore getting to know kids from Baltimore City and the surrounding areas,” said Mason, newly acquired by the New York Jets. “I have come to realize and understand their successes as well as their struggles, and I have committed myself to making Baltimore a better place for them to live and to learn regardless of where I play football.”
Several Baltimore-area schools and Boys & Girls Clubs participated in the event. Along with the two headliners, other NFL players, representatives for the Derrick Mason Foundation, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake, Council President Jack Young, Harlem Globetrotter Choo Smith and others joined in the cause.
The afternoon event took place August 12 at Diakon Place in Baltimore City.
