Ex-NFL Star Donald Driver Takes Part In Charity Campout For Cancer

MotivationJuly 15, 2019

The former NFL star participated in an overnight campout to help lift the spirits of children with cancer and their families.

Not only did Donald lose his father, Martin Driver Jr, to lung cancer, but he had also lost his best friend Bryant Pretlow to non-Hodgkins lymphoma. These close encounters with the disease inspired the Dancing With Stars champion to take part in the overnight campout.

The June campout was hosted by Northwestern Mutual, involving a total of 200 people and taking place in Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers – with whom Driver had spent his entire career, and won a Super Bowl.

The event offered many special perks for kids, like games, a screening of the animated film Ralph Breaks the Internet and one extra exclusive treat: The children each saw their names on the stadium scoreboard. They each got to take the “Lambeau Leap,” the famed touchdown celebration in which Packer players jump into the stands to be embraced. For Driver, the event ‘gives them the opportunity to be kids again.’

“A lot of them were in awe,” Driver said, “For me to be a part of that, to touch their lives and let them know people out there really care, it was really a blessing.”

One moment was especially touching for Driver, when a mom told him of her son, who had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, like his dear friend Pretlow. “She appreciated me being a part of this, knowing her son was a huge Packer fan who loved me,” says Driver. “And the emotions start to set in. She knew that this day, they were going to have one of the happiest moments of their lives.”

Next year, the campout will take place at another famous stadium. According to a Northwestern Mutual spokesperson, the bank has made a substantial donation of $20 million, to support research to combat childhood cancer.

Driver, seemed grateful for the opportunity to do some good, and summed up the event saying, “For one day, it took that burden off those individuals and families.”