Philadelphia Eagles Social Justice Fund is used in a mighty way

The Philadelphia Eagles Social Justice Fund recently came up big for nine people who needed it as we all begin to transition into the holiday season.

Just last week, we were gathering with our families and thinking of reasons to be thankful. In a little less than a month, many people will be, again, gathering with family members to celebrate Christmas. Neither of these thoughts are lost on various members of the Philadelphia Eagles, and thanks to a report from Tim McManus, an Eagles beat reporter for ESPN, we’ve learned something that many of you will think is awesome.

$50,000 from the team’s social justice fund, which is made up of money that was raised by players and matched by the team, was used to bail nine people out of jail on the day before Thanksgiving. It’s an awesome story, and you should check that one out when you get a chance.

Take a look:

We can probably imagine what those nine people were thankful for when they were able to spend last Thursday with their families. Jenkins freed himself up for a couple of moments to give the Philly media a few quotes on the subject. This is one of them:

"We recognize that the only reason that these people were in jail is because they couldn’t afford to get out. If any of them had the resources I did, they would be out, so it’s not a matter of public safety or being convicted of a crime, which they haven’t yet. It’s just they’re simply too poor for their freedom."

Here’s some of the highlights and our thoughts on McManus’ story. Much of this may not be news to some of you, but it bears repeating for those of you that were unaware that this happened.

Philly’s got what they’ve named a social justice leadership council, and many of you might even be able to guess who the members are without even being told, but we’ll spare you the trouble. Here are the members: Malcolm Jenkins, Michael Bennett, Nelson Agholor, Chris Long, Derek Barnett, and Rodney McLeod. There are also five staff members.

Jenkins and Anquan Boldin formed the Players Coalition in 2017, and though they’ve drawn both support and criticism, they continue to move forward. After reaching a deal with the NFL that resulted in an $89 million partnership, we can expect that more of these types of community investments are to come.

For Jenkins, the plan is a simple one that he defends with a simple-yet-complex statement:

"If you pour into and invest in people, they are less likely to commit an offense. They are more likely to sustain and become contributing citizens."

You can’t really argue with that theory now. Can you?