The Super Bowl has come and gone in New Orleans, and with it, some $700 million through the city in a week’s time. But there’s a part of the population untouched by the waterfall of sponsorships and media attention. Troy Vincent has seen it for 15-plus years. The EVP of football operations at the NFL, and former Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins (now Commanders) cornerback, was bothered by that dichotomy from the outset.
The closest thing this underserved corner might get to the Big Game, or its activations, might be a commercial. “So we started identifying schools that we can partner with to bring some kind of joy, happiness that is not just for that one day, but that can be for generations,” Vincent says.
Vincent and his wife of nearly 31 years, Tommi, founded the Love Thy Neighbor Community Development & Opportunity Corporation more than 22 years ago in Trenton, New Jersey, where they grew up. It began as a local humanitarian effort and has expanded nationwide, partnering with schools, food suppliers, resource providers, and corporations to meet community needs, with a focus on elementary education and domestic violence prevention. That journey has also grown to include an event during Super Bowl week known as Vincent Country Safe Zone Activity Day. Held a week ago on February 4 at Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School, north of 600 students participated in the day-long experience, presented by Cigna Healthcare. Now in its eighth year, the preK–8 students from Garyville and Fifth Ward joined in everything from flag football to free heath screens, skin cancer checks, and eye exams where kids were given glasses as well, if needed.
And the lunch portion? The cafeteria morphed into a makeshift Chick-fil-A. Owner-operator Jasmine Spraggins, who runs a LaPlace location on W Airline Hwy, has been with the brand since 2011. She was attending school to become a doctor and liked the idea of owning her own practice. But when she realized she could direct a business at Chick-fil-A, she began exploring the process with a biology degree in tow. Spraggins worked in a Chick-fil-A for five years and grew through the brand’s leadership program for 27 months. So while the odds of getting a Chick-fil-A are famously thin (often labeled as more difficult than getting into Harvard), Spraggins had a feeling her resume gave her a decent shot. Part of being a Chick-fil-A operator, however, and why the company has long elected to have community-based leaders make decisions, from hiring to wages, is picking your “giving strategy.” For Spraggins, she chose children.
Initially, the request for February 4’s event was simply to supply food. Spraggins wanted to know more, though. How did Chick-fil-A get involved? What was Love Thy Neighbor? She got on a call and heard an overview. “So when they’re explaining what they’re doing and all of the things that they so intentionally thought about to do for the kids specifically and long-term, I was like, man, this is perfect,” she says. “It’s perfectly aligned with Chick-fil-A Inc. as a whole company, but also for me as an individual restaurant. I always want to do things that are going to pour into and provide life to the children of our community.”
Spraggins boxed up 650 meals and stuffed backpacks for the “Chick-fil-A Lunch Zone.” Each child received eight nuggets, a fruit cup, chips, and cookie, with the goal they’d get a full meal and potentially some to take home. But in the event they didn’t leave enough food for the latter, Spraggins also provided them a ticket to return and redeem a free meal. Additionally, Chick-fil-A provided 150 meals for volunteers and fed the teachers.
Spraggins says, as accessible as the brand is, you don’t always think about how many kids know Chick-fil-A without ever getting the chance to try it. That’s a lot of what she heard on February 4. Some even asked the giant cow mascot to sign autographs. “There are a lot of kids that recognize the brand,” she says. “But you could also hear the excitement in their voice of, wow, we get to eat this today.”
Troy and Tommi joke their 19-year-old twins, sitting nearby, go there “literally every day.”
“So when you hear a kid say, ‘I wish I could take this Chick-fil-A home to my brothers and sisters, we always talk about that. It’s so far removed. You go, ‘whoa.’ And you see them putting their little nuggets and sandwiches in their bag to take home to their siblings. Some of us, we just take it for granted. We can go multiple times.”
Troy says part of the journey of Love Thy Neighbor owes to aligning with partners who “have a heart for the people.” The company has resources. What it needs, however, are sponsors who understand its values and aren’t there just to get a logo printed. That hasn’t always been the easiest path.
Tommi says Chick-fil-A was a natural fit, not only because of the company’s ideals, but also the identification of its mission. The brand came to Super Bowl week looking to spotlight food insecurity—a topic that’s central to Chick-fil-A’s Shared Table program where more than 2,300 restaurants donate surplus food to charitable organizations in their communities, or more than 35 million meals in the U.S. and Canada given back.
Feeding America estimates 47 million Americans, including 14 million children, are food insecure and lack access to sufficient food or food of adequate quality to meet their needs.
Tommi says, speaking of a lasting impact, connecting Spraggins with the New Orleans schools and setting this day in motion opened a door to a rapport and relationship that can go beyond Super Bowl week. “They’ve already committed to coming back and doing some things with the school when they’re getting their STEM training,” Tommi says. “… It’s the type of partnership that you’d like to have because they’re already thinking and processing, ‘how do we tackle this issue?’ And so, when they came to the table, we’re not telling them what we need—they’re contributing those thoughts and ideas as part of the solution that makes our activation go to the next level.”
The event has been consistent in its programming over the eight years it’s been going on. There are multiple “zones.” There’s a sports activity one, NFL Flag, lunch (Chick-fil-A this year), and Cigna Healthcare. Everything is intentional, Tommi says. And she adds it’s important for children to see adults enjoying life and playing an active role. NFL current players, Hall of Famers, and Legends included Coach Eddie Mason, who facilitated and led the day-long Vincent Country Safe Zone Activity Day exercise challenges, and famed choreographer and producer Markus Shields, who directed a dance fitness fun, along with Troy, Takeo Spikes, Bobby Taylor, NFL players Juwan Johnson, Kendre Miller, Jaylan Ford, and a host of volunteers including NFL staff, RISE, and undergraduate and graduate students from the surrounding New Orleans HBCUs.
It all led to a theme—“The Road to Success!” that also featured the unveiling of a leave-behind mural sponsored by Zebra Technologies, which commissioned local artist Vitus Shell. Infinite Athlete,a multi-year partner as well, donated a new playground set.
“We want to give them not only aspiration and hope to become other things beyond the community that they’re in,” Tommi says of the theme. “This moment and that opportunity presents an opportunity for them to see that beyond my community I can become whatever it is that I desire to be.”
“But in addition to that, we want them to see as you continue to grow and you continue to matriculate in life,” she adds. “You can still smile, you can still laugh. And we always say that we believe this activation in of itself is more beneficial for us than it is for the children because it reminds us to live.”
Tommi and Troy worked with Dr. Kara Lawson, principal at Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School, on a “Wish List” to ensure this wasn’t a one-day flash. That included items like laptops and tablets and Legos to the new playground and basketball systems for the outdoor blacktop. It’s a process that began in July leading up to the February 4 showcase. Love Thy Neighbor identifies partners and leans on local community members to cross wish-list items off and find ways to reinforce impact. Tommi conducts a site visit and spends time on campus listening and talking to leadership.
But all considered, Tony says, nobody in attendance, NFL legend or otherwise, received the reaction of a giant Chick-fil-A cow.
Spraggins says this was a fitting encapsulation of what makes Chick-fil-A what it is. “Yes, we are a quick-service restaurant. Yes, we lead with food. But we get to love on our community,” she says. “We get to have impact on our community and our kids and our area and I think that’s what makes us who we are. Is it’s that special piece that all of us understand that yeah, at the end of the day, we’re making money and we pick this route for whatever reason, but we understand what it is that we get to do every day through serving chicken, which is wild.”
“We’re just serving chicken, but we get to do so much more.”
