Cliff Avril, the former Seahawk and Super Bowl champion, is part of an effort to provide special back-to-school backpacks to Seattle-area kids in need.
The “Cliff Has Your Back” campaign is an effort of the Cliff Avril Family Foundation, Ascend Hospitality Group and Amazon. They were brought together by a common interest in education and feeding the community. In addition, Avril is committed to raising awareness of Type 2 diabetes in youth. He also aims to encourage nutrition and exercise in general.
Each backpack will include school supplies, food and nutrition information, food-related activity sheets and a $25 Amazon Fresh gift card.
The 250 backpacks were custom-designed by Avril in a process that you have to see to believe. There’s a video here. Let’s just say it involved footballs and paint-filled balloons. It must have been a lot of fun — and a major mess.
Cliff Avril backpacks: the players
“I think it’s extremely important that we’re fortunate enough to play a game for a living, fortunate to be in the spotlight and have a platform,” Avril said. “It’s only right to be able to give back to the community that you come from.”
Bellevue-based AHG is the parent company of restaurants in four states. You might recognize the names Stanford’s, Famous Dave’s BBQ, Ascend Prime Steak and Sushi and the Lincoln South Food Hall in downtown Bellevue.
“AHG feeds people, but we also feed people’s souls,” said Elaina Morris, AHG president and CEO. “Partnering with Cliff provides us with the opportunity to give back to the community that’s given so generously to us.”
How will they get these Cliff Avril backpacks to kids who need them? That’s where we all come in. First, nominations will be accepted online through Aug. 13. Then, Avril will be on hand for a special pickup event Aug. 22 at The Marketplace at Factoria.
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