Chris Long donates his salary to help kids
Oct 1, 2017; Carson, CA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long (56) smiles before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at StubHub Center. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Long, defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles, just announced that he will be donating a quarter of his salary to launch “First Quarter for Literacy,” a program focused on increasing early literacy among young children.
Based on his salary, after taxes Long will be contributing $400,000. In addition to that, he has also agreed to double donations up to $25,000 from any player on an opposing road team to help fund book drives in the cities of the team. For example, last week Beau Allen, of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, donated $5,000. Long will donate $10,000 worth of children’s books to the Tampa Bay community.
Long and his wife Megan are very passionate about the value of reading. They read to their son every night and have recognized that not everyone is as fortunate as their son.
“Kids don’t have a choice. Kids don’t pick their parents, they don’t pick their economic background, they don’t pick the neighborhood they grew up in, they don’t pick any factors that can hold them back, they don’t pick their school system,” said Long in an interview with ESPN.
The Longs’ main focus is getting as many kids as they can exposed to reading. They are expecting to donate 25,000 books to children.
A majority of the money will go to the “First Quarter of Literacy,” which will disperse the books to children, as well as fund the creation of Chris Long Book Nooks. The Chris Long Book Nook will serve as neighborhood based reading areas for children and families in less fortunate neighborhoods.
This pledge is a stem from Long donating his entire check from last year to help kickstart bringing awareness to early literacy.
Long is very excited about getting these programs started and knows he will gain a lot of support.
“I hope that it changes parents’ perspectives on how important it is, and how much they should cherish their time with their kids at night, reading 20 minutes a day, and the books that they have. It’s changed things for me.”
Long is encouraging everyone to donate books through the website FirstQuarterForLiteracy.org.
I am a senior, and I will be attending college to pursue a career in elementary education. I took Journalism to improve my writing and to become more involved...
