Warrick Dunn: Childhood and Service

9/30/2023

Warrick Dunn, former running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers past experienced shaped him into the philanthropic person he is today. Dunn was born to Betty Smothers in Baton Rouge LA, a mother of 6 who worked as a police officer to provide for her children. Smothers was tragically killed in the line of duty by armed robbers. This experience forever remained with Dunn as he took on the role of caretaker for his 5 siblings. He used insurance money as far as he could to provide for his siblings.

Dunn reflected on his mother, “She went out of her way even when she didn’t have a lot to help other people.” One fact in particular remained close to Dunn, “She lost her life, and she was never able to realize her dream of homeownership.” Dunn in honor of his mother's dream and to help those in his mother's situation, began his foundation, “Homes for the Holidays.” he explained his motivation, “Everyone deserves a place to call home because home is where the heart is.”

Homes for the Holidays has already bought funded 217 homes for single parents. Just this month he surprised a single mother and daughter in his hometown Baton Rouge LA with their own furnished home. The effort was a collaboration with Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, which helped raise 85,000 dollars for the home. 

Dunn was awarded the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award which recognizes stellar community service and philanthropy. Homes for Holidays also took on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Dunn asked his fellow NFL teammates to donate at least $5,000 to relief efforts. They greatly surpassed the goal, raising 5 million.

Dunn further expanded his charity to cover other areas of welfare. The first extension branch is called “Count On Your Future”, dedicated to teaching families “economic empowerment”. The program includes workshops that teach people to invest to secure their futures. The second branch, Sculpt, involves teaching families health and wellness. Monthly programs educate about general fitness, the benefits of healthy eating, how to eat healthy, and how to start personal gardens. The third branch, Hearts for Community Service, rewards low-income students who volunteer in their communities with scholarships to college and trade school. These efforts and Homes for the Holidays eventually merged into “Warrick Dunn Charities.” Dunn’s commitment to covering multiple welfare areas shows an impressive spirit, beyond what most others usually do.

In Harvard University’s housing crisis study, they found that 1 in 7 households are greatly burdened by housing costs, leaving little income on other expenditures. Homes for the Holidays therefore pays for many expenses “$5,000 down payment and we fully furnish their homes with food, furniture, linens, garden tools, TVs, computers all the way down to the toothbrush.” However, this very issue is what made Dunn open the expansion branches of Warrick Dunn Charities, to help “to be able to help people that are trying to help themselves.” 

Additionally, the organization began building affordable housing units to provide living areas to more people than they could help with just the property granting projects. Dunn seeks to expand his charity network to as large a scale as possible. He said, “The goal is I hope we can go out of business, and when I say that, it’s no one else needs housing.”

Warrick Dunn earned millions during his celebrated career. However, like many other NFL players, his past struggles and experiences before reaching such heights seem to be more important to him than any award or accolade. What sets Dunn apart from other philanthropic athletes however is his thoughtful and unique approach to philanthropy. Instead of being complacent with fixing problems case by case and only in one domain, Dunn has instead identified the network of problems that housing instability causes and faced those to help more people. His relentless and large-scale efforts show an unwavering commitment to serving others.

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Works Cited

Corbley, Andy. "NFL Running Back Makes 218 Single Parents New Homeowners With Collaborative Charity." GoodNewsNetwork.com, 15 Sept. 2023, www.goodnewsnetwork.org/this-nfl-running-back-has-made-218-single-parents-new-homeowners-with-collaborative-charity/.

Lee, Lauren. "How former NFL star Warrick Dunn's mother inspired him to tackle housing inequity." CNN.com, 23 Dec. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/12/23/us/warrick-dunn-charities-affordable-housing-iyw-trnd/index.html.

Warrick Dunn Charities. wdc.org/.