Tyrod Taylor and his family have a passion for tackling food insecurity and serving the underserved.
It’s why the Hampton-born National Football League player’s foundation has been distributing frozen turkeys and Thanksgiving Day fixings ahead of the holiday to the community for going on six years.
“We’re trying to do our part,” said Redell Spinks, director of the Tyrod Taylor Foundation.
Taylor was drafted into the NFL in 2011 by the Baltimore Ravens after attending Virginia Tech, but the now-New York Jet started as a multi-sport athlete at Hampton High.
While Taylor couldn’t be at the event personally while the football season is ongoing, more than a dozen volunteers showed up to hand out hundreds of turkeys and direct vehicles.
James Jackson has been doing it from the start. He’s known the Taylor family his whole life.
“That’s just how … Ty was raised,” Jackson said. “I love to see it, every year it gets bigger and bigger.”
This year, the foundation gave out 400 turkeys, along with stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pies, to a line of motorists that filled the Darling Stadium parking lot in Hampton and continued down Victoria Boulevard.
“We want to make sure that no family goes hungry,” Spinks, the foundation director, said. “We can’t feed everyone, but we try our best to put smiles on all faces during the holiday season.”
Clarence Davis was close to the front of the line when the music started and the line got moving at 11 a.m. He had nothing but praise for the Taylor family.
“He’s always doing for the community,” Davis said. “I’ve got to give him 100%.”
Juanita Staton was also there. She called it “great, wonderful, magnificent – all that, and then some more.”
“I am a fan of Tyrod Taylor,” she said. “He do it every year and ain’t nothing that he won’t do.”
The Tyrod Taylor Foundation partnered with Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic Division to make the giveaway possible, and enlisted Hampton High’s current crop of football players to hand out the turkeys.
James Menees from Kroger said the giveaway exemplifies the spirit of the holiday.
“Thanksgiving is about gathering around with friends and family, and to have a meal together,” he said. “We’re proud to be able to provide that to families in the area. It does a lot of good for folks here.”
Spinks said the foundation has served thousands of families since the start of the annual giveaway in 2019.
