United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN) presented International Falls Broncos Football Team with the organization’s Spirit Award at its Annual Campaign Celebration last Thursday.
The award was presented to the team in gratitude for naming UWNEMN’s Buddy Backpacks program as the beneficiary of the Touchdowns and Turnovers project. The team’s efforts raised $5,150 for the program which feeds 185 Koochiching County students at-risk of hunger each weekend and holiday break of the school year.
Touchdowns and Turnovers was one of the biggest contributors to UWNEMN in Koochiching County in 2021. Other Koochiching County funds were raised through workplace campaigns, individual donations and support of UWNEMN events, corporate gifts, and foundation grants.
Broncos Football Coach Seth Ettestad attended UWNEMN’s Annual Campaign Celebration with players Braden Skifstad and Cody Joslyn.
Ettestad said the team selected Buddy Backpacks as the beneficiary of the 2021 Touchdown and Turnovers because of the impact it makes on childhood hunger in the community. He said the Broncos coaches themselves have firsthand experiences of players confiding they are hungry, don’t have food at home, or can’t afford an after-game meal.
“These experiences changed the way we use our booster funds to ensure those in our care are fed,” he said. “These experiences were why it made sense for Touchdowns and Turnovers to support Buddy Backpacks last season.”
While football players may look and act like adults sometimes, they are still kids, Ettestad noted.
“When a child comes to you and trusts you, it’s a great honor, and it’s your moral obligation to ensure their safety and health,” he said. “If that child is lost, you guide them, cold, you warm them, and hungry, you feed them.”
Skifstad said the Broncos Football Team developed Touchdowns and Turnovers to make a difference for those in need and to teach players kindness, giving, and a greater purpose.
“The Bronco Football philosophy is, ‘success is wholehearted commitment to a greater purpose’ – whether that’s the team, schoolwork, our future careers, or family,” he said. “As an organization we have a platform to make an impact beyond football.”
Ettestad said the three in attendance accepted UWNEMN’s Spirit Award on behalf of the players, cheerleaders, coaches, their families, and their greater purpose. They expressed thanks to Assistant Coach Jerad Kostiuk who spearheads Touchdowns and Turnovers, PCA and Eckman Auto as business partners this season, all who made private donations this year, and to UWNEMN for its support of the 2021 partnership.
UWNEMN Executive Director Erin Shay said the team’s support was a bright spot in the organization’s 2021 campaign which raised $69,000 to support nonprofit agencies and programs across Koochiching County and Lake of the Woods County.
“When local people give where they live, their gifts stay in their communities,” Shay said. “To see young people get involved and take up the torch for UWNEMN in their community is incredibly inspiring.”
Local support of UWNEMN will benefit the following agencies and programs in Koochiching and Lake of the Woods Counties this year: Backus Community Center, Baudette Public Library’s summer reading program, Buddy Backpacks, Comforts of Home, Falls Hunger Coalition, Friends Against Abuse, Imagination Library, International Falls Public Library’s summer reading program, Koochiching Aging Options, Lake of the Woods Food Shelf, Salvation Army International Falls, Smiles United, and United for Veterans.