Jaelan Phillips has only been in Philadelphia for less than a month, but he is already making an impact in the local community.
Before Thanksgiving, the outside linebacker and his fiancé, Samantita, volunteered at Philabundance in South Philly, where they helped sort through food drive donations.
Philabundance’s mission is to “drive hunger from the community today and end hunger for good,” and Phillips helped continue that ahead of the holidays.
“It’s incredible to be able to come here,” Phillips said after volunteering. “Obviously, as NFL athletes, we have an incredible platform to make a difference. Then Philadelphia, being so passionate about the Eagles, so passionate about the community, being able to come here and package food. Right now, the way the country’s going, there’s a lot of food insecurity, a lot of need. To be able to come here and help out doing this is really amazing.”
Phillips joined about 20 other staff and volunteers to sort donations. Once all the items are in their respective bins, they will be packaged for pickup and distributed across nine counties.
“It’s really exciting for our staff, our volunteers, to see Jaelan joining the efforts and putting his all behind helping the community,” said Lauren Webb, the Chief Food Sourcing Officer at Philabundance. “We’re excited to have him here.”
