GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – The NEW Community Shelter in Green Bay kicked off their NFL draft week with a pizza party featuring some very special guests.
“I drove up here from Minnesota, was excited the whole time during the ride just to come back and see Green Bay,” said former Packers running back and current Minnesota Viking Aaron Jones.
Jones joined fellow former Packer Ha Ha Clinton-Dix for the pizza party. It was a collaboration between the NFL and Little Caesars Pizza. The NFL makes it a priority to hold events to give back to the community when they hold big events in different cities.
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Jones said it was amazing to be part of an event in a city that has given him so much.
“It’s a community that I will always be a part of, always want to be here giving back,” Jones told reporters at the pizza party. “It’s a community that believed in me before anybody else.”
Jones and Clinton-Dix served up pizza from the window of a large, orange Little Caesar’s food truck. They also played games with kids, signed autographs, and took pictures. NEW Community shelter officials said that for many of their clients, this is their only chance to have a NFL draft experience of their own.
Shelter staff said hosting events like this also helps them get exposure for their nonprofit.
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“This was almost heart-stopping when I got the call, I told the staff, can you believe it, we’re going to be working with the NFL and Little Caesars pizza,” said NEW Community Shelter CEO Terri Refsguard. “Organizationally, it’s been really exciting, we’re really thinking we’re something being part of this.”
At the end of the event, Little Caesar’s, the NFL, and the former Packers in attendance presented the NEW Community Shelter with a $50,000 check.
