By Mark Eckel | Engagement Insider
David Bruton knows he was one of the fortunate ones. He grew up under the guidance of two parents who taught him what was right and wrong and what was good and bad.
Not every kid had it that way, even some of the ones Bruton grew up with in Miamisburg, Ohio, just outside out of Dayton. They didn’t have that guidance, that understanding.
And we’re not even talking about getting in trouble, just eating properly, behaving properly, giving yourself a better chance to make it.
“I wish I could have helped some of the kids back then,” Bruton, a safety and special teams standout with the Denver Broncos said.
Bruton, a fourth-round draft pick of the Broncos out of Notre Dame in 2009, is helping kids all over now as part of the NFL’s and National Dairy Council’s Fuel Up To Play 60 Campaign.
The Fuel Up To Play 60 campaign began in 2009 and has now reached 73,000 public and private schools across the country and nearly 39 million students.
Since its inception the program has seen an increase in 13 million students eating healthier, which has led to better grades and increased participation in physical activities both inside and outside of the school building.
The program has also raised over $62 million to help fund the cause from private and public sector partners, and has facilitated over 1,150 Fuel Up To Play 60 NFL player appearances in schools.
Bruton is one of the players making those visits.
“It came about through my agent and the Broncos’ public relations staff,” Bruton said. “They knew a lot of the things I did in the community, helping out at the Boys and Girls Club and they just thought it would be a good fit.”
It has been. Bruton has always had a sense of community, especially when it came to helping out young men and women. From high school to Notre Dame and now after six years with the Broncos, David continues to demonstrate his genuine desire to help today’s youth.
“I enjoy being with the kids, it’s great,” he said. “I’m just a big kid myself and it lets me be a kid again.”
For Bruton, helping out began when he was a senior at Miamisburg High School when he volunteered his time to go to the middle school as a teacher’s aide. His volunteerism did not stop after graduation, but rather continued when he went to college.
“When I went to Notre Dame, actually all through my college years I was always helping out, working with kids, doing what I could,” Bruton said.
As a member of the Broncos, Bruton helps out at the local Boys and Girls Club, and when he can return home to Ohio, he takes time to work with kids there, too.
“Whenever I get the chance to go back home, I’ll work at high school football camp or do something to give back,” he said. “I just think it’s right.”
During the NFL player’s lockout in 2011, Bruton took a job as a substitute teacher back at his old high school. It gave him something to do while playing was put on hold, but it also gave him another chance to be around the students.
And then there’s the Fuel Up To Play 60 campaign.
“It’s reaching out everywhere,” Bruton said. “And it’s doing great things for kids. We’re teaching them what’s important. How to eat healthy, how to live right, and how that helps you whether it’s in the classroom getting better grades, or out on the field playing a sport.”
“And we’re seeing the results of kids improving back academically and athletically as they eat better and act better. In the U.S. there’s an epidemic of obesity with our youth. As adults we can take measures to put an end to that. We’re doing that by showing the kids what to eat and how to eat.”
Created by the NFL along with the National Dairy Council, Fuel Up To Play 60 provides students with access to better, more nutritious foods and also works to increase their physical activity.
And it helps when players, such as Bruton, are there to show them the way.
“We get the kids involved themselves,” Bruton said. “We have Student Ambassadors that lead. It’s always better when students hear things from their peers, instead of just from the adults. They tend to listen more.”
“I had it good, my parents did a good job with us. But not every kid has that. We’re helping to make sure more of them do.”
To find out more about how you can help NFL Players like David Bruton make a difference in the lives of today’s youth, visit FuelUpToPlay60.com and get involved today!