There is not a single New England resident that is a stranger to the region's bitter winters, complete with its freezing temperatures and seemingly weekly snowstorms. While most of us escape the frigid winter months by staying inside by the fire, there are more than 6,000 men, women and children in the city of Boston who do not have a place to call home and have found themselves without shelter.
The Pine Street Inn in Boston, Mass. is a not-for-profit organization that is committed to providing both shelter and hot meals to hundreds of the city's homeless individuals each and every day. On Tuesday, December 4, just hours after returning in the middle of the night from the Patriots Monday Night Football game in Baltimore, several Patriots players took time out of their day to visit the Pine Street Inn to serve dinner to over 350 of the Inn's homeless guests. Running back Laurence Maroney, wide receiver Chad Jackson, special teams captain Larry Izzo and Patriots Hall of Famer Andre Tippett teamed up with student athletes from Boston English High School for the community service project.
While at the Pine Street Inn, Izzo and Maroney were stationed on the men's side where, in addition to serving a piping hot meal, they discovered that they had quite a few fans. Many of the guests had watched the Patriots-Ravens game the night before while staying at the shelter and were thrilled to talk about the game. Jackson and Tippett served dinner on the women's side before going to the Inn's main kitchen to prepare and package sandwiches to later be distributed throughout the city via the Pine Street Inn Outreach Van.
"We want to be out in our community making an impact", Jackson said. "We want to show people that we are more than just football players and that there are people in the city that need our support".
