NFL player, team donate $10,000 to Monac Elementary

Reporting for the first day of Atlanta Falcons training camp, Toledo native Storm Norton made even bigger news off the field on Wednesday.

As he heads into his eighth NFL season, Mr. Norton and his wife Breanna donated $5,000 to Washington Local Schools’ Monac Elementary, that he attended roughly 20 years ago. As part of a program designed to encourage players to donate, the Falcons matched the donation, bringing the total contribution to $10,000.

Mr. Norton specifically earmarked the money for the Nutrition Services Department to focus on feeding students.

“I know there’s a lot of kids and families that aren’t fortunate enough to be able to even afford a lunch each day, so that’s where I wanted the money to go to, and hopefully I can help families throughout the school year,” Mr. Norton said.

“Food is something that’s essential in every life and especially in these kids at those ages, it’s super crucial for them to get that proper food and nutrition so they’re able to focus in the classroom and learn all the stuff that the amazing teachers there are giving to them and not to worry about if they’re going to eat their next meal.”

To put the gift into context, Monac serves about 260 lunches and 120 breakfasts per day, which cost $2.75 and $1.50 respectively, so $10,000 can provide more than 3,500 lunches or 6,000 breakfasts. These numbers represent a small but significant percentage of the total number of meals served over the course of the school year.

The donation comes less than two weeks after Mr. Norton’s high school teammate Chris Wormley hosted his third annual football camp at Whitmer, which falls within the same Washington Local Schools district.

Katie Peters, director of communications for the district, expressed her pride and gratitude for the alums.

“We were just blown away by his kindness and compassion,” she said. “As an alumnus, to be thinking all the way back to your elementary days is just mind-blowing to us, but we are so grateful.”

Mr. Norton was quick to thank the Falcons organization and owner Arthur Blank for amplifying his contribution to the matching program.

He also explained that, while others might focus more on higher levels of education, he felt it was important to go all the way back to his kindergarten roots.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do,” Mr. Norton said. “I have a lot of great memories at Monac and created a lot of great relationships with teachers that I still talk to to this day, and I know it’s a very important time in a kid’s life, and hopefully it’s something that will stick with them.”