The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund
Larry Fitzgerald has used his visibility as an NFL player to support several charitable initiatives, raise money for charity, and inspire others to give. He understands that his visibility as a professional athlete brings with it a responsibility to give back to the community.
In addition to his extensive volunteer activities, and direct donations to charities, in 2005 Larry established The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund.
The First Down Fund has two priorities:
1) promoting reading proficiency and technology access for K-12 youth as cornerstones to success at school and in life, and
2) supporting efforts to prevent and cure breast cancer and support breast cancer survivors.
The First Down Fund has provided funding for computers, books, chess tournaments, and playgrounds for youth. Annually The First Down Fund makes a donation to Plano Child Development Center, which provides vision care to children who otherwise would not have access to it. Plano was founded by Larry’s late grandfather, Dr. Robert Johnson. In addition, every year the First Down Fund makes grants to breast cancer organizations for activities such as research, support groups, and free mammograms. The First Down Fund primarily funds organizations in Arizona and Minnesota but has also funded organizations elsewhere in the country.
Larry looks for ways to increase the impact of his charitable work by teaming up with others. Earlier this year Larry teamed up with Microsoft to provide Surface technology to a group of schools in Minneapolis so the students can make use of the best technology in the classroom as well as a portable library of tablet devices for students to checkout and use at home. In the past Larry has worked with other private and public partners to increase the impact of his work in the community.
To date in 2018 The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund has made grants totaling over three hundred thousand dollars to organizations with demonstrated success closing the reading and technology gap and organizations serving breast cancer survivors. The First Down Fund will make grants totaling at least six hundred thousand dollars this year.
Larry knows he has a responsibility to give back to the community. In the process he has been honored to be involved in powerful and inspiring work.
Questions may be directed to
Larryfitzgeraldfirstdownfund@gmail.com
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Larry has worked tirelessly to support charitable activities in the community. He’s made repeated trips to visit the U.S. troops in the Middle East. He’s made several trips to countries in Africa and Asia with Starkey Hearing Foundation to help fit kids with hearing aids. Earlier this year Larry traveled to Ethiopia with Oxfam America and former teammate Anquan Boldin. They visited projects Oxfam supports in northern Ethiopia including a farm training center where they visited with farmers and helped plant trees, and an irrigation project where they worked alongside local people building retaining walls to capture rain water and prevent erosion. This year Larry is a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society’s “Crucial Catch” campaign during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In 2013 the First Down Fund generously donated 1,000 new Riddell Youth football helmets to The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board MPRB’s youth football program. Larry saw an opportunity to help the same program that gave him his start more than 20 years ago, Larry collaborated with Riddell to ensure all of the kids participating in the football program would have access to new, innovative helmet technology.
The First Down Fund also provided donations to a number of charities across the United States. This year over 300 charities were nominated by Larry’s fans to receive funding from the First Down Fund. The following charities were selected to be the recipients of those funds for 2013: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Boys and Girls Club on the Navajo Nation, Tuba City Agency Camp Kesem at Arizona State University, Johnson County CAN, in Nebraska, The Guild School and Neuromuscular Center in Spokane Washington, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Thornydale Elementary in Tucson, TyREDD, Weekend Backpack Program of Feedmore in Richmond Virginia. Virginia Tech Relay for Life, Creative Stages Youth Theatre, in Peoria, AZ, Youth House Atlanta,The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, based in Washington DC , Teen Lifeline, based in Phoenix, PEN in the Classroom which is a program of PEN Center USA. Thank you for all the charity nominations we received.
The First Down Fund has also made donations to refurbish a basketball court at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Park in Minneapolis where Larry first played football as a child. This season, Larry will continue a tradition he started a few seasons ago - Larry and the First Down Fund have made donations to breast cancer organizations based on his touchdowns and receptions in the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The following organizations have received significant donations as a result of this initiative: The National Breast Cancer Foundation, the American Cancer Society, African American Breast Cancer Alliance, and Sistas of AZ Pink 365 campaign providing free mammograms. Earlier this year the First Down Fund was a sponsor of “Tying the Knot, a series of events in Minnesota celebrating fatherhood. Larry and the First Down Fund are also perennial supporters of Plano Child Development Center, which provides vision care to children in the Chicago metropolitan area, and to the Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund which was established in honor of his mom. In 2012 Larry and the First Down Fund have also provided financial support to Big Brothers Big Sisters AZ, Nancy Lieberman Foundation, Make-A-Wish Arizona, Kurt Warner’s First Things First Foundation, and the Greg Jennings Foundation.
During the 2011 season, Larry made a donation each week to a charitable organization nominated by a fan. The following organizations received a donation providing general operating support as a result of this initiative: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Donorschoose.org, Juvenile, Diabetes Research Foundation, Starkey Hearing Foundation, Desert Dance Theater, Parenting with a Purpose, Catholic Charities in Flagstaff, Streetlight USA, Autism Speaks, The Kingman AZ Foodbank, Phoenix Youth at Risk, Special Olympics of Minnesota, Special Olympics of Arizona, YWCA of Oahu, Hawaii, Pinal Council for CASA/Foster, Camp Simcha, Operation Homefront of Arizona
In the summer of 2011 the Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund distributed funds to the Southern Arizona American Red Cross for wildfire relief. According to the Red Cross the donation prevented ten families from becoming homeless. The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund has also distributed funds to the Jerry Gamble Boys & Girls Club in North Minneapolis for summer youth programming, the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix for summer youth programming, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona for summer youth programming, Horizons Youth Program at Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis for summer youth programming, Minnesota Helps - North Minneapolis Recovery Fund to help families affected by the tornado, and Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Minneapolis for a summer film series.
