GIANTS IN THE COMMUNITY
“Like United Way of New York City, the New York Giants are honored to be a part of this City’s great history and commitment to helping others,” says Allison Stangeby, Vice President of Community & Corporate Relations for the New York Giants. And it’s true. Since 1925, the New York Football Giants organization has shown a remarkable commitment to working for the betterment of those in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. The Giants’ Community Relations team works diligently to create and implement programs that have established the club as a productive and contributing member of the community. During the 2020 season, Giants players partnered to learn about and address social injustice throughout the New York and New Jersey area. Each team, consisting of ten players and three coaches, was assigned to one of the following cities; the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, Westchester, East Orange, Newark or Paterson. The teams then came together to discuss and select an issue they wanted to focus on with a non-profit partner organization throughout the season. The Brooklyn Team of Teams group, led by Lorenzo Carter, knew that educational inequities largely impacted underserved communities and they wanted to work on improving opportunities for children. After discussions with the UWNYC staff, the team decided to focus on the community of Brownsville, Brooklyn. Through the United Way of New York City’s EducateNYC program, this group of Giants players and coaches adopted P.S. 165 and Brownsville Academy High School to provide their students with over $60,000 of PPE, food pantry items, tablets, internet access and additional resources. On top of the financial support, the players and coaches engaged in Zoom calls to mentor the students throughout the season. Additionally, The Giants Foundation was created to provide grants that assist charitable organizations involved in education, health, youth-related services, and civic affairs. In 2016, the Giants launched their partnership with United Way of New York City and Character Playbook™—a character education curriculum. This past year, Giants players Julian Love, Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, and Jackson Barton, virtually met with students throughout the area to discuss their own life experiences through the NFL’s Character Playbook curriculum. Over the past 5 years, a total of 47 schools and 2,240 students have participated in the Character Playbook program throughout our community. The Giants are also appreciative of their long-standing partnerships with respected charities, including the American Heart Association, Make A Wish of New Jersey, My Sisters’ Place, Rock and Wrap it Up!, Covenant House, Special Olympics of New Jersey and many more. Stangeby says, “Our partnerships with charities like United Way of New York City allow us to effectively dedicate our time and resources to the most important causes in our community. The ability to be of service to our neighbors and to witness some of the truly great programs that are taking place is a tremendous blessing.”
