FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (Sept. 29, 2017)- Over the past seven years, the Kraft family and the New England Patriots Foundation have placed a strong emphasis on celebrating volunteerism and honored hundreds of volunteers in the process. Throughout the 2017 season, the foundation continues its mission of teaming with nonprofit organizations to educate fans about the need for volunteering, highlight deserving volunteers from across the region and seek to inspire Patriots fans to become lifelong volunteers.
Every week throughout the season, the Kraft family and the foundation present the "Patriots Difference Maker of the Week" award, which recognizes deserving volunteers who go above and beyond to support their local community and nonprofit organizations.
"So many nonprofit organizations rely on the work of volunteers," said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. "We encourage everyone to volunteer and like to highlight those who do the most to positively impact their communities. It's nice to give credit to those who are most deserving and to reward the nonprofits they represent."
Kristen Frazier from Duxbury, Mass. was selected as a Patriots Difference Maker of the Week for her commitment to Wicked Good Cause.
Frazier has been a pillar of the Duxbury and South Shore community for many years and has volunteered with various organizations throughout her life. In 2013, she founded her own non-profit called Wicked Good Cause, whose mission is to help local families who have been affected by unforeseen accident, illness or tragedy. To date the organization has raised more than $350,000 and it continues to grow each year.
"I founded Wicked Good Cause after seeing a need for support for families facing the unimaginable," said Frazier. "Many people stepped up with their impressive skill sets to help build and grow the organization so we could expand our bandwidth and ability to serve our community."
Wicked Good Cause also helps local families in need during the holidays and launched a campaign to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research.
"After seeing a pattern of children battling pediatric cancer, we launched a cause based campaign, 'Go Wicked Gold' which raises awareness and funds for research of childhood cancers," Frazier continued. "September 30th marks the second year that Wicked Good Cause lights up the South Shore and beyond in memory of Zach Kane and for all those affected by pediatric cancer with gold luminary bags. The bags are available on our website and proceeds are donated to support research for a cure. We are hoping our efforts help fund much needed research and overall awareness of pediatric cancer."
Frazier also partnered with a different non-profit and planned a trip to Honduras to help teach skills for employment and fair trade.
For a grass roots non-profit, Wicked Good Cause is well known on the South Shore and each year, Frazier's tireless efforts continue to prove worthy as family after family receives support during their darkest times. "We encourage people to volunteer with an important message - in helping others we help ourselves," said Frazier. "The amount of volunteers that have joined has been overwhelming and heartwarming. Wicked Good Cause is run completely by volunteers and we are proud to be part of such a philanthropic community of doers."
Frazier will join 14 other outstanding volunteers for a special in-game ceremony at the Patriots Dec. 31 game against the New York Jets. She will also be featured in the Patriots Football Weekly newspaper, Patriots GameDay magazine and on www.patriots.com/community.
For more information about the Celebrate Volunteerism initiative, including pictures and videos of Patriots players giving back to the community, resources and information about volunteering, or the "Patriots Difference Maker of the Week" award, visit www.patriots.com/community.
