Several Bengals players stopped by the Freestore Foodbank to help make a difference in families' lives this Thanksgiving.
Players passed out boxes containing either a chicken or turkey and several Thanksgiving essentials including stuffing, cranberry sauce and canned pumpkin. Nearly 8,800 people will benefit from the meals distributed on Tuesday.
"Thanksgiving is a time that families come together and to be able to give them a meal to share during that time is great," said Bengals linebacker Trevor Roach. "It's nice to be able to give back."
"These are our hometown heroes," said Freestore Foodbank President and CEO Kurt Reiber. "Being able to have them here to support us is really a breath of fresh air to our customers. Many of them are having some difficulties in their lives and being able to hang out with some of their favorite players is
Cincinnati Bengals players pass out holiday goods at the Freestore Foodbank Thanksgiving Food Distribution 11/22/2016
really a wonderful opportunity for them."
The Freestore Foodbank distributed 23.3 million meals last year to approximately 300,000 individuals.
"Hunger is with us year-round, not just during the holiday season," said Reiber. "Being able to have the Bengals organization and these players behind us and really supporting our efforts to raise awareness for the impact of hunger in our community is really something that we couldn't do by ourselves, and that's what is really important to the Freestore Foodbank and the families that we support."
"To the people, it means a lot for us to be able to come out and help," said Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard. "They always support us, so this is our way of giving back to them.
To learn more about the Freestore Foodbank, visit freestorefoodbank.org.
