The mantra of the Greg Jennings Foundation, “To whom much is given, much is required” is a simple one, but embodies everything the former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings and his family stand for — faith, family, and helping others.
All of that was put into action on Monday for the 9th Annual Greg Jennings Golf Classic as Jennings and his foundation tried to build off of the success of last year’s event that raised $114,000 for The Be Great initiative supporting and educating underprivileged youth. Jennings was joined by a cast of stars like Vikings Hall of Famer John Randle, as well as Minnesota native and Pro-Bowl wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, Larry Fitzgerald, at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove. The Be Great Initiative was again at the forefront of the event.
“When we started out with the foundation, our focus was underprivileged children and families. It was too general, too broad,” said Jennings. “So we wanted to focus on something that was more near and dear to us, and something that we felt like could impact youth in education. We went with education because it was something that we saw as ‘no one can ever take this away’.”
Since its inception in 2008, the Greg Jennings Foundation has made monumental strides in the communities it has reached. Currently serving the greater Twin Cities area and his hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Jennings uses his status as a platform to serve the communities that he calls home.
“Most think that, like this golf event, is, ‘Ok all about Greg,’ you know,” said Jennings. “No no no, no, no, it’s a platform that I have been given to project what it is we are trying to do with youth, with my Faith, with who we are, and how we’re impacting others. And bringing them to the point where they can begin to impact those around them.”
A key ingredient to the success of Jennings and his foundation is his Faith.
“(Faith is) everything. It’s everything, it really is. I’m all about integrity and you know we all have things that we do that we’re passionate about, and Faith is the foundation of everything that I do,” said Jennings.
“I don’t even like to call it the glue, it’s really the cement that I stand on that holds everything together that I build everything up on top of. So without that, there’s really no substance to what I’m doing. So it’s a part of everything that I do because it’s who I am.”
The cement of Jennings’s Faith culminated in a moment he said he will never forget while helping an underprivileged family.
“There was one case (in Kalamazoo) where we had partnered with Habitat for Humanity, and we were able to build a house for a single mom and her two boys. And she didn’t have any idea, well she had an idea because you have to know, but she didn’t know who was building it, and how it was going to happen,” said Jennings.
“We tried to keep her blind to all of the details if you will. And so we get to the site, and this mom and her two boys are not there, we’re building this house all day, and in a matter of a couple days or whatever this house is up and she comes and she sees us and it was just the look on her face, and the appreciation of someone cares enough about me and my situation, and my family, and my boys. To do this for me, that was like one of the best feelings I’ve ever experienced.”
Thanks to Greg Jennings and his Foundation, success stories like this one have become commonplace in the communities of Minneapolis and Kalamazoo. While Jennings’ football career is on hold, his philanthropic efforts remain an everyday endeavor.
