Ole Miss athletes give back to local families in need through Grove Collective initiative
The Grove Collective is helping provide and give Ole Miss athletes opportunities during their time in Oxford, but this week those athletes were using the chance to give back to Oxford.
On Monday a group of Ole Miss athletes who are a part of the Grove Collective spent their morning giving food to local families in need. Those athletes who helped hand out food in the parking lot of Oxford’s Pinelake Church included Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss baseball players TJ McCants and Hunter Elliott plus women’s basketball player Myah Taylor.
The initiative is called Meals Up, which is part of the program the Grove Collective has with private jet company Wheels UP. Athletes signed with the collective are eligible for travel credits that help them and their families travel by way of Delta Airlines.
With getting those travel benefits through the collective’s partnership with Wheels Up the exchange is those athletes help take part in local philanthropic events with Meals Up like the one on Monday.
Food handed out to families included vegetables, fruit juice, cereal, salads and meats. The leftover items will be placed in Oxford food banks.
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“I think any time that you’re able to support those who are hungry, I think that’s a really big deal,” Dart told local media at the event. “I also just think as athletes, the community is very supportive. I think it’s very important for us to get outside of the walls of campus and the walls of your team and stuff like that, and really look out for others.”
Around 25 Ole Miss athletes are taking part in the airline credits through the agreement with the Grove Collective and Wheels Up.
“When you can combine a philanthropic opportunity, helping out the local food bank and solving a need there, along with solving a problem with travel for athletes, it was a win-win for us,” said Grove Collective executive director Walker Jones to reporters.
