Jermaine Eluemunor was proud Tuesday to host a giveaway of 200 turkeys to feed needy families.
Just like he’s proud to be part of a Giants offensive line that no longer is considered to be the Thanksgiving birds of the NFL after a blame-filled decade.
“It’s going really good, just keep it up,” Eluemunor said of the offensive line’s play during an otherwise dismal 2-9 season. “We just do what we have to every week to try and win games. I love the guys I get to play with. I feel like the O-line is probably one of the best units on the team just because of the relationships you build and the character. It’s a lot of different personalities that come together.”
Eluemunor was joined by teammates John Michael Schmitz Jr., Josh Ezeudu, Austin Schlottmann and Reid Holskey at the American Eagle Food Pantry of Northern New Jersey for his second annual turkey drive. His personal donation supplied 200 turkeys along with 200 bags of fixings.
“In times like this, things can be tough and the price of food can be a little high, so to give back and put a smile on their faces is the coolest thing you can do as an athlete, in my opinion,” Eluemunor said. “I know how tough it can be and both my parents worked their butts off to help me get to where I am now, so it was always a plan of mine to make sure I made time to give back to the community.”
Eluemunor was born in England before coming to New Jersey for high school.
He lived in government housing, which made a story from last year’s event stick with him.
“I had this one single mother who came up to me with her little daughter saying how grateful she was because they were going through hard times and it was tight for them,” Eluemunor said. “Having an event where they could put food on the table was huge for her. Things like that put everything in perspective for me.”
Eluemunor, who is having a career-best year at right tackle (three sacks allowed) for an offensive line ranked No. 11 in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, will be a free agent after the season.
He is cherishing his two-year stint near his Denville roots and would like to make his turkey giveaway an offensive-line-wide event in the future.
“This is my home away from home,” Eluemunor said. “To be able to give back in the first place I lived in America is a huge thing for me.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
