Minnesota Vikings legend Cris Carter remembers going hungry as a kid, and with the coronavirus pandemic, he couldn’t sit idly while millions of Americans struggle with food insecurity.
“If I was a young kid sitting around all day and my mom couldn’t go to work and we couldn’t go to school, it would have been tough,” Carter told USA Today. “I was going to school for at least two of my meals.”
The Pro Football Hall of Famer has called on his fellow “Gold Jackets” to help feed people impacted by COVID-19, partnering with Project Isaiah, “a charitable organization founded during the pandemic that provides free, boxed meals to people in need.”
USA Today’s Jarrett Bell’s detailed Carter’s efforts:
For Carter, the project resonates in more ways than one. He grew up with six siblings in a single-parent household headed by his mother in Dayton, Ohio. He remembers what it felt like to go hungry when there was no pandemic, just scant resources.
“It touches me personally because I don’t know what my family would have done 30, 40 years ago if there had been a pandemic,” Carter said.
“…You have people who have struggled but have been doing it the right way trying to dig out of poverty,” Carter said. “Then something like this happens, it can throw them right back into poverty. Why wouldn’t we care? People need support.”
Carter has done a PSA for the project on Facebook, asked other Hall of Famers for help, called on business contacts to donate and conducted interviews to raise awareness.
Launched in April, Project Isaiah has provided nearly two million meals in 11 major cities.
Carter has also spoken upon school closures and their impact on children’s health, promoting GENYOUth’s Emergency School Nutrition Fund on his Instagram:
GENYOUth, also a participant in the NFL’s Fuel Up to Play 60, is raising money that’ll help schools struggling to feed their students by awarding grants up to $3000 “to purchase resources for meal distribution and delivery.”
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Carter Named Chief Marketing Officer
GettyFormer receiver Cris Carter of the Minnesota Vikings gives his speech during the NFL Class of 2013 Enshrinement Ceremony at Fawcett Stadium on Aug. 3, 2013 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Carter’s humanitarian efforts in response to COVID-19 haven’t stopped with just feeding people. He’s also entered the pharmaceutical realm.
GoGoMeds, a medical prescription delivery service and online pharmacy, announced Carter would join their team as Chief Marketing Officer and “will oversee advertising, digital innovation, market growth, and serve as brand ambassador for GoGoMeds.”
“Now more than ever, we must address fears of a possible medication supply shortage,” Carter wrote on his Instagram. “As CMO I am here to personally alleviate concern and ensure that GoGoMeds has a viable medication flow set in place.”
Carter’s Departure From Broadcasting
Getty(L-R) Cris Carter with his former co-hosts of “First Things First” Jenna Wolfe and Nick Wright attend the 2018 Fox Network Upfront. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Carter was recently fired by Fox Sports after co-hosting “First Things First” for three years on FS1. He was noticeably absent from tapings for a week back in November, and the reason remains unclear after the network released a public statement that did nothing but confirm his firing.
There has been speculation over a dispute with the network on being snubbed from the “Fox’s Thursday Night Football” studio show but that was not the reason he was let go, according to the New York Post.
Carter tweeted a series of bible verses that month that have been seen as cryptic towards his fall out with Fox.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
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Vikings Legend Fighting to Keep Families Fed