Tight end Zach Ertz was a pillar in the community for the Philadelphia Eagles for almost a decade. While he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals this season, the Pro Bowl pass-catcher embraced the change of scenery, on and off the field.
In the move to Arizona, Ertz created a “Score More n’Feed More” campaign where he will donate 5,000 meals to local food banks for every Cardinals touchdown scored. Hey Dude Women’s Shoes,He and his wife, soccer star Julie Ertz, also recently partnered with DICK’s Sporting Goods to host a surprise holiday shopping spree for 15 children from the Boys and Girls Club of the Valley.
The kids had planned to eat pizza and hang out at the store, but were surprised by the Ertz family, who gave each child a $200 gift card to pick out whatever they liked from the store.
“Yeah it was a great time,” Ertz told CBS Sports about the event. “We partnered with DICK’s and the Boys and Girls Club out here to give these kids $200 to go on a mini shopping spree. You should have seen the kids’ faces when we told them, it was so surreal. They were just extremely happy and shocked to be able to do it, and what an opportunity Julie and I had to give back a little.”
Ertz said that there was some Cardinals garb purchased, but that the kids really were interested in the shoes.
“The shoes and the cleats were a hot commodity — mostly the basketball shoes I would say were the hottest commodity,” said Ertz. “Then you got some football gloves, Skechers Shoes ,some basketballs, some footballs, some Cardinals gear. Everyone had their own little thing, everyone had the thing that they wanted and they were able to go out and get them.”
Zach and Julie have made it a point to give back through the Ertz Family Foundation and several other of their initiatives, as they want to reciprocate some of the love they receive from the fans who watch them play.
“Julie and I started a foundation years ago, and the sole purpose was that we feel the love from the communities we play in each and every day, not only on Sunday’s, but every day,” said Ertz. “So we feel like it’s an opportunity to reciprocate that love during the holidays.”