SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Rutgers football on Tuesday took some time to give back to the local community here in the leadup to the Rate Bowl, building “little free libraries” and reading to a group of local children.
The event was run in conjunction with the Rate Bowl – which is run by the Fiesta Bowl – and Southwest Human Development, a local nonprofit organization that focuses on literacy.
The Scarlet Knights helped build six little free libraries had the Rutgers block “R” on the side of them. They’ll be distributed throughout the state of Arizona.
“This is what it’s all about, just putting smiles on people’s faced,” kicker Jai Patel said. “We have such a great opportunity to play in front of thousands of people and we have so many fans and people that support us, so any time we have face-to-face contact with our community and helping out people in need, helping out anyone in general, it’s awesome.”
Players also put together kits that will be distributed to children who need them to inspire them to read.
“These are kits that Southwest Human Development just hands out at different community events to get kids excited about reading,” said Kristina Chumpol, chief of staff and vice president for community for the Fiesta Sports Foundation. “The player right now are stuffing stuffed animals that are from the stories, and they get to fill out a little card so when the kid receives it they’ll get to hear that a Rutgers football player visiting for the Rate Bowl created that for them and hopefully gets them a little more excited.”
Community events and giving back in charitable endeavors has become a continued endeavor for Rutgers football, particularly through its #Chop4Change initiative.
Several players this week have said how welcoming the Phoenix community has been while they’ve been here for the Rate Bowl.
Tuesday’s event was an opportunity to spend some of their time giving back.
“It’s definitely cool to meet some of the local kids here and give back to the community,” center Gud Zilinskas said. “Coming to these bowl games is really cool to experience how welcoming the community is to us so it’s really rewarding for us to give back to the local community and help out some people.”
