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Cam Newton Is Providing Thanksgiving Dinner To 1,200 Underprivileged Kids, And He’ll Be Serving It Himself

By Kristine Lofgren
Published on: 11:21 PST, Nov 16, 2018

Cam Newton is known for giving back to the community, and this Thanksgiving, he plans to outdo himself. This year, for Thanksgiving, the Carolina Panthers quarterback is serving food and entertaining 1,200 youngsters. CBS Sports reports that the sports superstar will be feeding a record number of kids for the seventh year of his philanthropic dinner.

Newton is no stranger to giving back to fans and kids. Earlier this year, the quarterback took 17 Special Olympic athletes to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Atlanta for a shopping spree. Each kid got $200 to spend at the store on whatever they wanted. This wasn’t the first time he has taken kids on a shopping spree, doing the same thing in 2015 for the holidays as a surprise for a group of fourth and fifth graders.

He also works with multiple charities, including his own Cam Newton Foundation, and is well-known for giving away footballs to fans after touchdowns.

For the past seven years, Newton has hosted a massive Thanksgiving dinner. Last year he helped feed 800 kids. This year, he is partnering with the Second Harvest Food Bank to bring food to hundreds of kids. And he isn’t just paying for the event and putting his name on it. Newton will be on-hand to interact with the kids and serve food.

“I vowed to myself that if I get put in my position — there’s never enough things that you can do for a community. So nights like tonight are important to me and will forever be important to me,” said Newton to the Charlotte Observer about the event in 2017. “For this to be important to me and knowing what I mean to so many people in Charlotte, I just want to do right by them. More than just winning football games, but making myself available as a servant.”

Newton says that the event means as much to him as it does to the kids.

“I was serving my greasy, cheesy, unbelievable mac ‘n’ cheese, one of the kids told me, I thought you was fake. That just tells you how kids think,” Newton said. “For me just being here and being able to be touched, being talked to, that goes a long way.”

The dinner won’t just be about the food, though. There will also be entertainment in the form of music, games, face painting, and more. After the event is over, kids will be able to take leftovers home to their families.

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