Jaelan Phillips, a recent addition to the Philadelphia Eagles, has begun contributing to the local community shortly after his arrival in the city. Before Thanksgiving, Phillips and his fiancé volunteered at Philabundance in South Philadelphia, assisting with sorting food drive donations. Philabundance aims to address hunger in the community and provide long-term solutions.
“It’s incredible to be able to come here,” Phillips said after volunteering. “Obviously, as NFL athletes, we have an incredible platform to make a difference. Then Philadelphia, being so passionate about the Eagles, so passionate about the community, being able to come here and package food. Right now, the way the country’s going, there’s a lot of food insecurity, a lot of need. To be able to come here and help out doing this is really amazing.”
Phillips joined approximately 20 staff members and volunteers in sorting donated items that will later be packaged for pickup and distributed across nine counties.
“It’s really exciting for our staff, our volunteers, to see Jaelan joining the efforts and putting his all behind helping the community,” said Lauren Webb, Chief Food Sourcing Officer at Philabundance. “We’re excited to have him here.”
In addition to this effort, Phillips has been active in various forms of community work through his foundation that supports youth music education and sports programs. He was previously recognized as the Miami Dolphins’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for his involvement in charity events such as cancer fundraisers and supporting marginalized groups.
“We have this big platform to be able to make a difference,” he said. “So, I think that it’s kind of our responsibility to lead [by] example and to inspire other people to give back as well. I’ve always loved it. I grew up doing community service, so being in the league, being able to do it more, has been a great privilege.”
Other Eagles players also participated in charitable activities ahead of Thanksgiving using funds from Amazon’s $250,000 donation received for playing on Black Friday. Several players joined meal distributions or provided meals through organizations such as Boys and Girls Club Philadelphia, ACME Markets Foundation for Norristown School District families, Love Pray Peace Project serving veterans, Salvation Army meal distributions by Jordan Davis, Chester Community Distribution and Kipp School events by Nakobe Dean, donations by Jalyx Hunt including meals and clothing for those in need; additionally rookies partnered with Silvi Materials at Parkside Association of Philadelphia distributing 100 Thanksgiving meals.
