Jalen Carter’s foundation helps provide local ‘grandfamilies’ access to nutritious food: ‘It means a whole lot that he’s giving back’

Jalen Carter walked into Hope Partnership for Education, a middle school in North Philadelphia, on Thursday afternoon and experienced a wave of nostalgia.

Growing up in Apopka, Fla., Carter would frequent his mother’s daycare. Helping his mother, Tonique Brown, with the children inspired him to give back to the next generation through his eponymous foundation as he ascended to NFL success as a defensive tackle for the Eagles.

On Thursday, the 24-year-old Carter partnered with Acme and Connectedly, a Philly-based nonprofit that supports seniors, to host a kickoff event for Connectedly’s Philly Families Eat Smart summer program at the middle school. The six-week program, with support from Carter’s foundation, is designed for grandparents raising their grandchildren.

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The program will provide the “grandfamilies” with nutrition education and access to fresh produce over the summer while children lack school-provided lunches.

“I always grew up around kids,” Carter said. “I was always helping around with the daycare. I always knew I wanted to give back to the community. Every opportunity I get, I take it.”

Thursday’s event gave those grandfamilies the opportunity to visit stations with activities from the summer program and to make their own healthy snacks. Carter participated in a Q&A session, in which he answered questions related to healthful eating and exercise habits, and took photos with each grandfamily in attendance.

He also helped Acme present a check for $17,100 to Connectedly, which will assist the nonprofit in funding its services throughout the city. The $17,100 includes $11,100 in gift cards (the rest will be distributed throughout the summer) and $6,000 to run the program.

“Grandparents are one of those underserved, overlooked, but always consistent communities that are really the pillar of all of our lives,” said Bre Bair, Acme’s communications manager for the mid-Atlantic region. “So we were just excited to align with [Carter and Connectedly] and love on these grandparents and give them a little bit of support.”

Carter elicited the loudest cheers of the day when Dionne Chambers, Connectedly’s grandfamily educator, announced that Carter would be donating $100 Acme gift cards to more than 50 families in the room. He explained that the idea stemmed from his mother.

Shakila Moten of Southwest Philly, who brought her three grandchildren, her niece, and her stepson to the event, called Carter’s donation “awesome,” as it eased some of the burden of paying for groceries.

“To see a young man like him doing things for us to help us out in the community, especially low-income families, this is an honor,” Moten said.

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Relina Bonilla of Kensington, who was accompanied by three of her four grandchildren on Thursday, said the donation will help ensure that she has plenty of milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and other nutritious snacks on hand for the kids throughout the summer.

The fact that the donation came from an Eagles player was particularly meaningful to Bonilla.

“Them giving back, the grandchildren as well as grandparents know, this person cares,” Bonilla said. “This person wants to see success stories out of areas where you think there wouldn’t be any. There are success stories.”

Ollie Tansimore Jr. of Germantown, a friend of Bonilla’s who brought his granddaughter to the event, concurred.

“It means a whole lot that he’s giving back,” Tansimore said. “I like that, especially for a Black man to come back and give back. And that makes me feel proud that my granddaughter sees that. You can be an athlete but give back. I don’t care where you’re from, but give back, you know what I’m saying?”

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According to a 2021 study by the William Penn Foundation, 17,000 grandchildren in Philadelphia lived in homes under the primary care of grandparents. One of the findings from the study was that many low-income grandfamilies lack sufficient financial resources to support the basic needs of their family unit, from food to furniture to housing costs, which is where Connectedly is trying to help.

“We want to make sure [the children are] productive members of society, but in order to do that, we need to make sure we’re giving them the tools to do so,” Chambers said. “If we’re not providing them with healthy foods so they can grow their bodies and their minds, how’s that going to happen? So, obviously, Jalen does that. His mom did that. And look how he’s evolved and grown into an awesome young man that recognizes he has to give back to the community in a huge way.”

Carter could tell just how big an impact he was making on those grandfamilies as he interacted with them throughout the afternoon, based on their expressions alone.

“Just to see all the smiles, that made me smile, and that’s all I want to see right now,” Carter said.