In collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Black 14 Philanthropy and College Football Hall of Fame donated 36,000 pounds of food to the Atlanta Community Food Bank on Tuesday, April 7.
“One of our missions is to help the communities that need food,” said Mel Hamilton of the Black 14 Philanthropy. “So far, we’ve delivered 1.75 million pounds of food since 2020. … We want to feed as many people as we can.”
Hamilton and his former teammate Tony McGee represented the Black 14 at the donation event at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
Hamilton and McGee were two of the 14 Black players unfairly dismissed from the University of Wyoming football team in 1969 after asking to participate in a peaceful racial protest prior to a game against Brigham Young University. At the time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a policy preventing Black men from priesthood ordination. The Church’s policy was changed in 1978.
The athletes have since reconciled with the University of Wyoming, BYU, and the Church. In 2019, the surviving members of the Black 14 started the Black 14 Philanthropy to give back to the community and help those in need. They began collaborating with the Church in 2020 to donate food to food banks around the country.
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