Originally Posted: December 5, 2018
Jets left tackle Kelvin Beachum knows what it’s like to grow up as a child with parents who need help putting food on the table.
Now the 29-year-old wants to do his part to ensure fewer families have to worry about their next meal.
“I used to be one of them,” Beachum recently told Sporting News. “I was one of those kids that was on fee reduced lunch, and I’ve experienced some of the issues that kids are facing right now. I knew from personal experience how that was and have been able to join the fight for it.”
In an article posted last month on the Jets’ team site titled, “In My Own Words: Kelvin Beachum on His Fight to End World Hunger,” he reflects upon what his family went through and what he’s doing to give back. He writes about how his parents always found a way to make sure he and his siblings had enough to eat, and often times, that meant help from various programs. While he and his siblings were able to focus on just being kids, Beachum knows many children are far too aware of the poverty they face.
In addition to changing how society views families who struggle to put food on the table, Beachum wants to break stereotypes about what it means to be a football player. He combines both goals into one cause: feeding the hungry. It shows people how there are more to athletes than the games they play, and those who struggle often have no choice.
“Struggling with poverty and food insecurity is too often viewed as a choice or consequence rather than an unfortunate circumstance,” Beachum writes. “That’s a stigma I hope to break.”
Beachum works with World Vision, an Evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development and advocacy organization. He also has an annual youth football camp at Mexia High School in Mexia, Texas, the small town in which he grew up. READ MORE