Andre Johnson, wide receiver for
the Houston Texans, presented a very generous gift to a Houston charity on
Tuesday, February 14, 2006. The donation was a gift from the Andre Johnson
Foundation in the amount of $10,000. The “I Have a Dream” Houston chapter is the
only long-term mentoring and dropout prevention program of its kind in Houston
that promotes higher education for inner-city youth, according to their website.
When asked about the Andre Johnson
Foundation and its purpose, Mr. Johnson stated “My
foundation is committed to working with kids in single-parent homes and helping
them become responsible, educated citizens,” Johnson said. “I grew up in a
single-parent family, and I just want to help people who grew up in the same
situation that I did.”
This is
representative of the type of players the Texans have. Johnson isn’t the only
player to have a big heart when it comes to charities. Kris Brown, the Texans
place kicker, has his own way of giving back to the community also. He has his
own way of giving called the Kris Brown Kick Club, benefits the Texas Children’s
Hospital Charity Care Program.
In 2005,
Kris raised $121,000 for the Texas Children's Charity
Care Program. And this year, with the help of corporate sponsors, the Kick Club
donated a total of $141,000.
The Texans
organization also does work to help the Houston community. In 2005 the team
held their third annual Houston Texans Charity
Golf Classic at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston. The tournament was
sponsored by Verizon Wireless. That year the tournament featured 27 foursomes
who joined together to raise money for the Houston Texans Foundation's five
designated charities: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Rebuilding
Together, Boys and Girls Club, John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Science and
Child Advocates.
The Houston
Texans Foundation was established in November 2001. According to the website,
the organization is “committed to encouraging and enabling all youth and
families in Houston and the surrounding area to reach their full potential and
to achieve success. The Houston Texans Foundation works closely with the Texans
community relations and marketing departments to help non-profit organizations
by providing assistance through educational, financial, volunteer and
collaborative support. The foundation administers programs that develop strong
minds and bodies, with an emphasis on leadership, integrity and character for
the youth who will become the leaders of the next generation.”
The city of
Houston is lucky to have a team like the Texans to call their own. The players
themselves also go above and beyond to show the community how much they love the
city they play for. The Texan Blitz salutes the players and those involved in
the Houston Texans Foundation for their generosity.