My Cause,
My Cleats
Seattle Seahawks players will have the chance to share the causes that are important to them during all Week 13 games, as part of the NFL's My Cause, My Cleats campaign. Defensive end Cliff Avril, wide receiver Doug Baldwin, tight end Jimmy Graham, cornerback Richard Sherman, and quarterback Russell Wilson all chose to participate, personalizing their footwear to help tell their stories.
Cliff Avril
My Cause: Cliff Avril Family Foundation
What They Do: The Cliff Avril Family Foundation mission is to increase the awareness of Type 2 diabetes in youth and to encourage healthy living through nutrition and exercise. As well as provide educational support and opportunities to youth in Haiti, along with various community-based organizations in Jacksonville, Seattle and Charlotte.
Why Is This Cause Important To You?: "Diabetes is prevalent in the Haitian community, but everyone from my mom to my aunties has it, so that's kind of why it plays a big part, and then I took it to juvenile diabetes once I started having my kids. Haiti is where it all started for me. Giving back in the way of education I think is very important because I feel like education is key to keeping them on the right track." - Cliff Avril
What Influenced Your Cleats' Design?: "One cleat has the juvenile diabetes research foundation that I partner up with and then [the other has] The Cliff Avril Family Foundation, which is obviously helping both. It has my foundation logo on there and it has JDRF on there as well, so I think those are two cool points."
How Can Fans Get Involved?: "Go to CliffAvrilFamilyFoundation.org and you'll get all the information of everything we're doing, everything that we have going on, and you can donate and be a part of the process."
Donations / more information: http://cliffavrilfamilyfoundation.org/
Doug Baldwin
My Cause: Southern Sports Youth Association
What They Do: A grass-roots nonprofit organization whose mission is to respond to the academic, social and physical needs of each child through the appropriate involvement of community, students and staff.
Why Is This Cause Important To You?: "It's been a tremendous help to me on my path to the NFL and where I'm at now as a man as well, so I'm playing for them, and hopefully raise some funds for them. … More so than anything they taught me discipline. Any time a report card came out, or a midterm report came out we had to bring it to them, and if it wasn't up to the standards then we couldn't play. We'd have consequences out at practice. It was a family atmosphere, but we were all held accountable and all held responsible. … That was the biggest thing, was that they taught me discipline. It was never easy. They never made it easy. They always made it difficult, but it was in a sense for us to overcome obstacles and be better men." - Doug Baldwin
What Influenced Your Cleats' Design?: "It's an all orange cleat with tiger paw prints on it. It goes back to my little league football days."
Why Would You Encourage Fans To Get Involved?: "Because they do so much and they don't get recognized for it as some other charities and some other organizations do. They're huge in our community back home, they've done a lot. When I was six years old I started there and they're still doing it to this day. There's a huge opportunity for that organization to continue to do what it's doing in the community, and I want to be a part of that."
Donations / more information: http://www.sysatigers.org/
Jimmy Graham
My Cause: Angel Flight Soars
What They Do: Angel Flight Soars arranges free air transportation for people who need to travel to receive lifesaving medical treatment, but lack the means.
Why Is This Cause Important To You?: "It takes my passion for flying and allows me to help people who really need it. It turns my true love and my hobby into something that helps others, which when you can combine those two things it's just the perfect situation." - Jimmy Graham
What Influenced Your Cleats' Design?: "The wings were my idea. Adidas did a great job with helping me do that. This is one of the first times where I've had a lot of input because of the opportunity to be able to do this and I wanted it done right. They did a great job and it looks really cool. Going out there with some angel wings running around, hopefully I can jump over a couple people and really show them off."
How Can Fans Get Involved?: "Go to your nearest Angel Flight website and you can donate that way. Then obviously if you're a pilot, that's where it's really needed, is if you're a pilot and you're IFR-rated and you have a certain amount of time, then you can clear with them and go through their whole flight program and become one of these Angel Flight pilots. I think you get a lot more out of it than you give, just the feeling and the smiles from these kids, being able to be in a small plane for the first time, or being able to get this ride to this life-changing experience, or something that they truly need, it's an unbelievable feeling."
Donations / more information: http://www.angelflightsoars.org/
Richard Sherman
My Cause: Blanket Coverage, The Richard Sherman Family Foundation
What We Do: Provide students in low-income communities with school supplies and clothing so they can more adequately achieve their goals.
Why Is This Cause Important To You?: "Because I know that that's your first opportunity to be successful. I think education is one of the most important things that a kid can get. A great education, a chance to further their education and get the opportunities at jobs — it's hard to get a job without at least a bachelor's nowadays — so to get a kid excited about school and not worried about where their pens and pencils and backpacks, things like that, necessities for school, are going to come from is a real relief because not every parent can afford to provide them with everything they need for various reasons." - Richard Sherman
What Influenced Your Cleats' Design?: "It's mostly my normal cleat and they put my foundation logo, which is my logo, on the outside of the cleat, which is really cool."
How Can Fans Get Involved?: "We have a Facebook page and we read every single message that people send. If you're looking to volunteer we have a Christmas event coming up on the 19th that we'll probably need volunteers for, but it's really about the families. Just reach out and we can help in any way. We've helped a ton of people through them just reaching out and saying they needed it, their kids needed it. We're always happy to help."
Donations / more information: https://www.richardsherman25.com/pages/foundation
Russell Wilson
My Cause: Why Not You Foundation
What We Do: The Why Not You Foundation was launched in 2014 by Russell Wilson and is dedicated to creating real and lasting change in the world by motivating, empowering and preparing today's youth to be tomorrow's leaders. In addition to financially supporting organizations aligned with the foundation's mission, Russell works to extend the foundation's impact by making visits to Seattle Children's, advocating for pediatric cancer through Strong against Cancer, working with the National Domestic Violence Hotline to Pass the Peace, as well as many others.
Why Is This Cause Important To You?: "Ultimately we want to be able to affect the world and it starts with our own communities, our own cities, our own loved ones, our own friends and co-workers and all that. But if we can change one soul, hopefully that one soul, that one person that we change can change one other one and make it a snowball effect. That's our mission and that's always been our focus with the Why Not You Foundation." - Russell Wilson
What Influenced Your Cleats' Design?: "On my cleat, it's pretty cool. Obviously it says Why Not You Foundation, but there's a globe. There's a Western Hemisphere and an Eastern Hemisphere and we want to do global change. That's the whole point of the Why Not You Foundation, we want to have an impact all over the world."
How Can Fans Get Involved?: "I think first of all the best way to get involved is looking at yourself. I always say, ‘the man in the mirror' — it's a Michael Jackson quote — but I think being able to look at the inner self and seeing how I can personally give back individually. If you want to get behind the cause, the Why Not You Foundation is ready and willing. We've been able to donate significant resources to affect change and help try to save people's lives. But I think even more importantly than that, I think it's actually the physical, precious time spent with people. I think that's really, really important."
Donations / more information: http://whynotyoufdn.org
Cliff Avril
The Cliff Avril Family Foundation
Doug Baldwin
Southern Sports Youth Association
Jimmy Graham
Angel Flight Soars
Richard Sherman
Blanket Coverage Foundation
Russell Wilson
Why Not You Foundation