Henry McKenna
NFL Reporter
NEW ORLEANS — Over 100 kids and adults cheered loudly when FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks presented a check for $400,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana at Rosenwald Recreation Center in New Orleans on Wednesday. It was one of many efforts by FOX Sports in the company’s charitable commitment to the Boys & Girls Clubs as a part of the FOX Forward and FOX Sports Gamechanger Fund initiatives.
Not long after learning about the donation, the children saw their new technology center, with new laptops, televisions and updated Wi-Fi systems — all a part of the commitment.
“The Boys & Girls Clubs are on a mission to create great futures, and that means a lot of things to a lot of different kids,” Shanks said Wednesday. “So for some kids, it’s a safe place to go, like it was for me. For others, it’s a way to make new connections. It’s a way to get mentorship. It’s a way to get meals. It’s a place to spend time when they could be spending time in other places, but this is the best place.”
Shanks has a strong bond with the Boys & Girls Clubs after spending a lot of time at one as a child in his hometown in Indiana. And, no surprise, the sports community in the club was one of his strongest memories of his time there.
“I grew up in the Boys & Girls Club where Larry Bird went to play basketball, and his brother, Eddie Bird, would come and play pickup games,” Shanks said. “They had massive pickup games in our Boys & Girls Club, because it was where Indiana State was. And then, there was access to great mentorship, great adults and new friends to spend time with.”
Shanks addressed the kids in attendance alongside FOX NFL reporter Kristina Pink and analysts Howie Long, Rob Gronkowski and Mark Sanchez. The group discussed their experiences with the Boys & Girls Clubs, and shared advice and wisdom they learned through their careers in sports. And Shanks wasn’t the only one who grew up attending the club.
Long also has a personal bond with the organization.
“Having worked with the Boys & Girls Club for decades, growing up in the Boys & Girls Club, you don’t realize the impact until later on, but those were the formative years,” Long told the kids. “Without the coaches, without the parents, without just the kids having fun — that’s what this should be about. With the input that I think Fox is bringing today, I think that would be improved.”
The event highlighted FOX Sports’ commitment to the New Orleans community before, during, and after Super Bowl LIX.
“The resources and the relationships are a huge part of people’s success,” Sanchez said. “It feels like a family when you come to these kind of places, and all you want to do for the family is help out. So when we get the call to come in and get a chance to interact with kids like this, this is what FOX is about. This is what Boys & Girls Club of America is all about.”
Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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