Courtesy photo by Ned Dishman. London Fletcher (59), Clinton Portis (26) and in the back row (from left to right), Derrick Dockery, Mike Sellers (in the hat) and Lorenzo Alexander. The two students are Surrattsville HS football team captains.

Published on: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

By Maggie Ekstrom, Special to The Sentinel

While the Washington Redskins may have only won three games so far this season, the team is winning off the field with their charitable contributions to Prince George’s County.

The charitable foundation is partnering with the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services to donate Thanksgiving dinner to eligible families at the Redskins-Harris Teeter Harvest Feast this week.

The feast, which takes place at FedEx Field, will donate Harris Teeter turkeys along with fresh and packaged food from Operation Blessing to thousands of Prince George’s County residents. All children in attendance will be given a holiday gift bag, which includes a Redskins Read activity book, toys and treats.

Since 2003, the Redskins Charitable Foundation has donated more than 204,000 pounds of turkey and 600,000 pounds of packaged and fresh food to families in the Prince George’s County area. In 2008 alone, 36,000 pounds of turkey and more than 90,000 pounds of other foods were gifted. Vice President of the Community and Charitable Programs for the Washington Redskins B.J. Corriveau expects the same turnout for this year. Along with 3,000 turkeys, 108,600 pounds of fresh and canned goods will be given out, says Corriveau.

The Redskins-Harris Teeter Harvest Feast has been a tradition for the last seven years because of its significance in helping underprivileged families, says Corriveau.

“Community outreach is one of the tenets of the foundation and through programs such as Harvest Feast, the foundation touches the lives of the thousands of fans who are in need during this Thanksgiving holiday season,” said Corriveau.

All season long, the team has been partnering with other organizations to make a difference in the community.

Through the Washington  Redskins Charitable Foundation’s Redskins Read program, the foundation recently partnered with Everybody Wins! D.C. and Borders to collect children’s books. The 2,921 books collected were worth a combined value of $21,078.54 and were redistributed to elementary and middle schools in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, as well as Washington, D.C. and the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.

“The goal of the book drive is not only to provide underserved youth in the region with books to help build their personal home libraries, but also to raise awareness about the importance of literacy and providing our youth with the tools they need to succeed,” said Jordana Taylor, programs manager of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation and Community Relations Department.

Fans were encouraged to bring new children’s books to the stadium collection event at FedEx Field in October or to drop books at participating Borders stores and Washington Redskins retail stores. Volunteers from Everybody Wins! D.C. and The Reading Connection sent volunteers to help gather books at the stadium collection event, which was met with an overwhelming fan response, said Taylor.

“We are quite pleased with how the book drive went in terms of both the actual collection as well as the awareness it brought to literacy,” she said.

The Redskins Charitable Foundation continued its outreach efforts this fall by partnering with Prince George’s County Public Schools to add eight high school football fields through the team’s “Fields for Tomorrow” program.

The partnership, announced at an early November pep rally at Surrattsville High School, will renovate and maintain fields at Charles Herbert Flowers, Crossland, Dr. Henry Wise, Potomac, Parkdale, Suitland and Surrattsville high schools as well as Forestville Military Academy.

Redskins’ owner Daniel M. Snyder attended the pep rally, along with players Clinton Portis, Mike Sellers, London Fletcher, Derrick Dockery and Lorenzo Alexander.

“It’s really important that we really work hard with the community to give back,” said Snyder. “We’ve got an obligation with our football team and our players, and an opportunity. So we’re excited. They’re beautiful fields, and we hope they’re put to good use.”

Alexander, Redskins defensive lineman, agrees in the importance of the Fields for Tomorrow program. “When you have a field that you’re proud of, you want to go practice and you want to play games,” he said. “You want to work hard and you want to show the community that you’re proud of the field.”

Redskins’ owner Snyder is hoping to match the teams’ community charity efforts on the field to salvage the rest of the season and boost fan morale.

“We are really trying very, very hard,” said Snyder. “I think we’ve got an opportunity the rest of the season to hopefully get it going [referring to their onfield performance].”