By Lisa Zimmerman | Engagement Insider
It was a hot summer day in New York City. The sun was blazing overhead, but Baltimore Ravens defensive end Chris Canty hardly seemed to notice. He was doing what he likes to do best, work with children. In this particular case, almost three hundred children from all over the New York tri-state area were attending Chris Canty Camp of Champions that The Chris Canty Foundation has hosted for the past several years. With a whistle hanging from his neck, New York native Canty was front and center, coaching and giving encouragement.
Not far away was his brother, Joe, who serves as the foundation’s chairman and president. Together they implement the foundation’s programs all of which are designed to positively influence children in all aspects of their lives and help them to develop their individual talents and goals.
The Cantys, who moved from New York to North Carolina when Chris was 15, always lived a comfortable life and their parents made certain that their children were focused not only on their schoolwork, but also had constructive activities to fill their free time.
Canty credits his mother with creating his path to the NFL. A basketball and baseball player during the winter and spring, in the fall he was at loose ends. That is, until his mom put her foot down. “She said ‘I’m tired of you coming home and not doing anything,’” Canty recalled. “She said, ‘You either get a job or do sports.’ I thought, a job sounds like work, so I’ll try football.” He grinned as he added, “Turned out to be the best decision she ever made.”
The Chris Canty Foundation got its official start in 2008 when Chris was playing for the Dallas Cowboys, who had drafted him in 2005. He had already started the Chris Canty Camp of Champions there, but quickly realized that he wanted to do more to impact the lives of children in a bigger way. The brothers realized that they wanted to take the lessons of their childhood and reach out to this generation’s children in all walks of life, to make sure they understood the opportunities that existed for them.
“Our goal is diversity,” Joe said. “We have CFO’s kids together with kids who are on subsidies. We want to teach all kids to be leaders, to make healthy decisions throughout life.”
Offering information and tools for children is critical. The Cantys understand that children often don’t know what exists outside of their immediate worlds, so they do their best to expose the children involved with their foundation to ideas outside of what they know.
The foundation’s programs are broken down into four categories: Education, Service, Fitness and Leadership. Their literacy programs include volunteers who go into different schools and read to the children there. The mentorship programs connect individual children with an adult in the business community who can help guide and explain the various routes to take toward both their educational and career goals.
“These are all positive-minded people influencing these kids from a young age so they get the messaging from more than one person,” Chris said. “It’s not just mom, it’s not just dad, it’s not just the teachers. It’s other people coming into the community.”
And these interactions aren’t short term. The foundation tries to establish relationships that will last to offer a level of continued support and reinforcement. “We try to make sure that all of our volunteers have the opportunity to follow up on their kids,” Chris said. “Kids won’t listen to what you say until they know that you care.”
The foundation’s service outreach program also offers a way for the children themselves to give back while they are learning. Children participate in activities like community clean-ups and helping out at food kitchens to see how they can also impact and help others.
Chris is now entering his 10th year in the NFL where he has already achieved most of his career goals, including earning a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants in 2012. Although retirement is not yet on his mind, he is looking forward when it comes to the foundation. He is pleased with what he’s been able to establish thus far and in the future, his hope is to become even more hands-on and have the ability to continue to increase and expand the foundation’s programs and events.
For more information about The Chris Canty Foundation, visit www.chriscantyfoundation.org.