Warrick Dunn has represented The Florida State University well, both on and off the football field, and now the FSU community has an opportunity to show its appreciation.
Dunn, a graduate of the College of Communication & Information’s School of Library & Information Studies, is a finalist for a prestigious Jefferson Award for Public Service.
This is the second year that All Stars Helping Kids, a nonprofit that urges athletes to use their talents and name recognition to improve the lives of children, has partnered with the Jefferson Awards to create a separate category honoring professional athletes for public service.
The Warrick Dunn Family Foundation’s Homes for the Holidays program, working in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, has helped almost 100 families headed by single parents get into their new homes in Tallahassee, Tampa, Baton Rouge and Atlanta – the communities where Dunn has lived and played football at the high school, college or professional level.
“Warrick is setting an outstanding example for everyone and truly deserves to be recognized for his efforts,” said Dr. Larry Dennis, dean of the College of Communication & Information. “Please take the time to vote for Warrick and encourage everyone you know to do the same. By the way, you can vote early and often.”
Dunn created the Homes for Holidays program in 1997 during his rookie season in the NFL to honor his mother, a Baton Rouge police officer and single parent who dreamed of owning her own home and often worked extra shifts providing security to support her family. Before she could realize her dream, Betty Smothers was shot and killed in an armed robbery during an off-duty shift. Dunn, 18 years old when his mother was slain, took over caring for his five siblings. The outpouring of support from the people of Baton Rouge instilled in him a commitment to charity and community.
In 2002, Dunn expanded his philanthropic efforts by establishing the Warrick Dunn Family Foundation to grow programs and services for single-parent families. To date, Dunn’s charities have contributed almost half a million dollars in down-payment assistance and almost $2 million in home furnishings and household necessities – with furniture provided by Aaron’s Inc. – to single-parent families as holidays approached.
In the past year, the foundation has worked with Big Bend Habitat for Humanity to help with down-payments and furnish homes for two single mothers in Tallahassee, one whose family was moving into a new home just before Christmas 2009 and the other whose family was moving in just before Mother’s Day 2010.
For more on the foundation and its work, go to http://www.warrickdunnfoundation.org.
Dunn is receiving two other honors this fall because of his philanthropy. He was named recipient of the 2010 Heisman Humanitarian Award, which will be presented at the 76th Annual Heisman Trophy Dinner on Dec. 13 in New York. This is the fifth year the Heisman Humanitarian, which honors athletes who go above and beyond to improve the lives of others, has been presented.
Dunn is also this year’s Outstanding Alumnus of the School of Library & Information Studies and will be recognized, along with honorees from the other two schools in the college, at the CCI Homecoming Convocation on Nov. 6.
The Jefferson Awards are a prestigious national recognition system honoring community and public service in America. The Jefferson Awards are presented on two levels: national and local. They began in 1972 to create a Nobel Prize for public service. Today, the primary purpose of the awards is to serve as a “Call to Action for Volunteers” in local communities. For more information, go to http://www.jeffersonawards.org/
For more information on All Stars Helping Kids, go to http://www.allstarshelpingkids.org/.