Before the season begins, I wanted to highlight some of the activities the Carolina Panther players and organization participate in to give back and make a difference in the community.  I feel like we do not get to hear enough about the good things that they do.

Charities

The Panthers participate in several charities:

• Carolina Panthers Scholarship fund:  They award 2 scholarships a year to one male and one female student athlete for graduate school.  The scholarships are awarded based on “leadership, citizenship, and academic merit” per Panthers.com.
• Community Grants: The panthers give funding to non-profit organizations that meet the needs of communities throughout both North and South Carolina.
• Carolina Panthers Sam Mills Memorial Scholarship: This scholarship is for outstanding high school students who need assistance for college.

There are several other charities that the organization participates in conjunction with the NFL.  Information on these charities can be found on Panthers .com.

Foundations

Quite a few Panther players have created foundations for their favorite causes:

• Cam Newton Foundation:  According to the foundation website at camnewtonfoundation.org the mission of the foundation is to enhance “the lives of youth by addressing their social, emotional, educational, and physical needs.”  The organization accomplishes this by hosting programs like a 7 on 7 football tournament and Personal appearances by Cam.  To see the faces of the kids he meets and speaks too, makes this a worthwhile organization.
• Jon Beason MLB Foundation:  This is another foundation geared toward making the lives of youth better.  They also host several programs like the Back to School Blitz, Hit the Books, and College Bound.
• Thomas Davis Defending Dreams Foundation: The mission of this foundation is to give at risk youth a chance at building character and leadership skills to be successful in society.
• Greg Olsen Receptions for Research: Provides funding to hospitals and for research to help those afflicted by hobbling diseases.

We were joined once again by special guest Ross Tucker.  Ross is a former NFL player, a writer for SI.com and a Sirius Satellite Radio host.  We appreciate him taking time out of his schedule to be with us.  It was, as always, a very interesting conversation.

Nick Yeoman, due to those technical issues that have dogged us for a few weeks, was again unable to join us.  Be sure to stop by and take in his video blogs on You Tube.

We also touched on one of those hot-button topics – politics – in our Rant Or Rave segment.

It’s all in the show.  Check it out and feel free to comment below.  You can also email us anytime at catcraveradio@gmail.com.

[display_podcast]

Episode Sixty-Two: May 20, 2009

In Episode Sixty-Two…

• News
• Rant Or Rave
• Panther Profile – Steve Smith
• Special Guest – Ross Tucker (SI, Sirius Satellite Radio, Go Big Recruiting)

Thus far, we’ve covered great games and great performances.  There have been franchise-changing moments.

The number four moment was exactly that – a moment that would set into motion change that would forever alter the course of two teams. (more…)