Colts Players to Deliver Thanksgiving Meals

INDIANAPOLIS - Nov. 19, 2015 - PRLog -- This Friday evening, November 20, several members of the Indianapolis Colts defense, will personally deliver Thanksgiving goods to families from Phalen Leadership Academy (PLA).  The prepared boxes will include all holiday meal necessities, gift cards, and Colts’ items for families chosen by PLA.

The NFL players involved with this project include Mike Adams, Darius Butler, Vontae Davis, Greg Toler, Dwight Lowery, Winston Guy, Clayton Geathers, Colt Anderson, D’Joun Smith, Josh Thomas, Demen Southward, and Tay Glover Wright.  Veteran safety and 2014 Pro Bowler, Mike Adams, led this effort last year.  This year he asked several of his defensive teammates to participate and support the families of PLA with him.

“This is a team effort this year.  We are blessed to live and work in this community.  This is one way we can give back and help these families.  These guys are like my brothers, so I’m excited to do this together,” Adams said. “I love the concept of PLA and the impact they have on their students.  I am very passionate about working with the youth and can see myself opening a charter school in the future”.

The players will make donations to families at Phalen Leadership Academy at Francis Scott Key School 103 or “PLA@103,” an Indianapolis Public Schools district school that is being led by PLA as of the 2015-2016 school year. “We’re very grateful for this wonderful holiday gift for our scholars and their families,” said Earl Martin Phalen, Founder and CEO of the Phalen Leadership Academies. “It will be tremendously inspirational for our scholars to be able to meet these Colts all-stars, as well as to see the importance of generosity and of giving back.”

The players will meet at Phalen Leadership Academy (3920 Baker Drive Indianapolis, IN 46235) at 4:45 p.m. before visiting the homes of 7 families to deliver their meals. The remaining meals will be distributed by PLA.  Media is welcomed and encouraged to cover the route with the players.  Please contact Melissa LaCorte at Melissa@LaCorteENT.com or (469) 500-1734, to confirm coverage and receive exact route. For more information regarding the Phalen Leadership Academies, contact Founder and CEO Earl Martin Phalen at emphalen@phalenacademies.org or (617) 818-1959.

About Mike Adams

Mike “Pops” Adams was born on March 24, 1981 in Paterson, New Jersey.  He is currently a Safety with the Indianapolis Colts in the National Football League, leading in interceptions. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers (2004-2006) as an undrafted free agent in 2004 and also spent time with the Cleveland Browns (2007-2011), prior to the Denver Broncos (2012-2014).  Adams became an AFC champion with the Broncos his 2013-2014 season and competed in Superbowl XLVIII.  2014-2015 NFL season, Adams became a Pro Bowl Champion, tied for league takeaways, and set a career high of 93 tackles as an Indianapolis Colt.  He played college football at the University of Delaware.  Mike is an active philanthropist and is committed to giving back to his community.

About the Phalen Leadership Academies (PLA)

PLA is a nonprofit network of public schools that was approved in 2012 to ultimately serve over 10,000 students (called “scholars”) annually across Indiana. In the 2014-2015 school year, 100% of PLA’s third-grade scholars passed the state IREAD-3 examination, demonstrating proficiency on the standardized reading exam.  In 2014, the passage of Public Law 1321 gave Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) the authority to partner with organizations like PLA to replace underperforming or underused district schools with high quality, autonomous public schools (called “Innovation Network Schools”). PLA was then selected by IPS to lead the district’s School #103 as the state’s first Innovation Network School. The new “PLA@103” will implement key features of the PLA school model to help raise scholar achievement.