OhioState product Malcolm Jenkins is the Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award honoree, the Big Ten Conference announced last week in the press release below:
"As a four-year letterman at the Ohio State University, Jenkins started 45 career games and totaled 196 tackles, 18 passes defensed, three blocked punts and four forced fumbles in his career. An All-Big Ten selection in each of his final three years on campus, Jenkins left Ohio State with 11 interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.
"Originally selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 14th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Jenkins has consistently been a pillar in the locker room and in the communities in which he has lived, worked, and played, including his home state of New Jersey, Louisiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In an effort to enhance the lives of youth in underserved communities, Jenkins launched the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation in 2010. The foundation is dedicated to youth development programs and initiatives that provide innovative learning opportunities, resources, and experiences that will help them succeed in life and become productive and contributing members of their community.
"In 2019 Malcolm Jenkins was the Philadelphia Eagles' nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. That same year, Jenkins received both the McSilver Award as a Vanguard for Social Justice from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University and the Community Hero Award at the Community College of Philadelphia. The McSilver Award recognizes activists who are prominent in their fields and unafraid to use their platforms to help create a more equitable and just world. Jenkins received the Community Hero Award for his service in education and economic advancement in low-income communities, criminal justice reform, and police-community relations. Jenkins also won the 2017 Byron "Whizzer" White Award for going above and beyond to perform community service.
"In September 2020, in light of Hunger Action Month, Jenkins and the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation launched "Get Ready Fest – Feeding the 504" in collaboration with the Winn-Dixie Gives Foundation, Second Harvest of South Louisiana, and the Broadmoor Improvement Association Food Pantry. The foundation started its initiative in New Orleans by hosting an event that provided more than 25,000 pounds of food to 557 families. The hunger relief partnership helped the New Orleans community by feeding families through the end of 2020 and bringing awareness to food insecurity. Support from the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation and Winn-Dixie allowed the Broadmoor Food Pantry to double the number of families it serves on a monthly basis in the New Orleans area who are living in poverty-stricken conditions."
