The Cleveland Browns are committed to the community. Through First and Ten, the Dawg Pound is encouraged to share what they are doing to give back. Get inspired and check out what these fans are doing to help their community:
How do you give back?
#give10
Name: LillyAnne Zilko
Hometown: Lorain, OH
How they give back:
Lilly is so committed to her community that she has volunteered more than 200 hours during the past year. Being active in her community she has supported various causes in her area. She did so with the Girl Scouts, Greater Lorain Young Marines and the American Legion Junior Auxiliary. The work she's done has been rewarding and helpful to those around her.
Name: Marianne Linfante
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
How they give back:
Marianne is a trendsetter, passionate about what she does and who she helps. She began Northeast Ohio Autism Group in 2005 as a way to raise funds for children and adults with autism in northeast Ohio. Since inception they have been able to help over 60 autism organizations and countless individuals with autism. As her children have grown into adults, including her oldest who has autism himself, she sees how the desire to help others is passed down to continue the legacy of the charity. The amount of individuals the organization is able to help is the most exciting part about the nonprofit for her.
Name: Hubert Noe
Hometown: Ravenna, OH
How they give back:
Hubert is the president of the West Branch Backers. They are a very small club and are only in their second year as members of the Browns Backers organization. That being said, this season they have held 50/50 raffles over last couple months on game day around the holidays in hopes of generating enough to help some families facing difficult times make ends meet. As much as cash helps an effort, they know not everyone has it to spare, so the West Branch Backers have also donated some autographed memorabilia to be raffled. The price of tickets are just $1 each or two nonperishable food items. They have conducted raffles and love to give back. Ultimately they wish to spread positivity through our area as compassionate die-hard Browns fans. The goal for completing their 10 hours this year is to provide at least 10 dinners to 10 families during the holiday season.
Name: James Schmidt
Hometown: Shaker Heights, OH
How they give back:
James volunteers with Shaker Youth Hockey. His son plays hockey and he first started volunteering two years ago as the fundraising coordinator and a board member. He continues to do it because he values the positive impact that youth sports has on the community. He had never been a board member or helped with fundraising prior to this experience. He gets to see the direct impact that it has on the organization financially and the undeniable impact that it has on young athletes, like his son. He's really enjoyed helping out the hockey kids, so when they were out of season he also signed up to help with the youth swimming program, the Shaker Sharks.
Name: Carla Lovejoy
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
How they give back:
As a board member and volunteer at the Renee Jones Empowerment Center, Carla spends 10-20 hours per week working with Renee Jones in making sure the programs at the Center keep moving forward. The programs are in place to help victims of human trafficking move forward. She helps with fundraising, photography, mentoring a client, social entrepreneurship, community outreach and much more. They have helped hundreds of women since opening get their lives back on track after living a life of devastation due to no fault of their own. The Renee Jones Empowerment Center is a great place for volunteers, like her, to work with wonderful people to help women get back on their feet.
Interested in signing up your volunteer group for First and Ten? Group forms available! **Click here** to learn more about how to #give10
Follow @BrownsGiveBack on Twitter and Instagram and tell us what you are doing to help others using #give10 to unite us all as Browns fans. Give 10 hours, help your community.
The Browns are dedicated to #give10 through the team's First and Ten initiative. Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team's community program, established to inspire fans to volunteer in and help their communities throughout the world by volunteering for 10 hours each year. Since its inception, Browns fans have committed to volunteering more than 2 million hours to impact their communities by pledging to #give10. Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community. All Browns fans are encouraged to join the volunteering effort by signing the First and Ten pledge on the team's website and by sharing their stories with #give10
