Junior Seau Foundation To Host Holiday Shopping Event For Kids

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA – The Junior Seau Foundation will host its 24th annual Shop with a Jock event Tuesday for underprivileged children around San Diego County.

The event pairs professional and collegiate athletes from local teams like the San Diego Padres and San Diego State University Aztecs with children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego. The participating athletes and children will then shop for holiday gifts at Target Mission Valley using $100 gift cards from the Junior Seau Foundation.

"This event was very special to Junior and continues to be for his board members," said foundation President Jay Kawano. "The goal of this event is to teach the kids of San Diego the gift of giving rather than receiving. The JSF provides the means to make this holiday special for their family and loved ones."

Seau, an Oceanside native, played as a linebacker in the NFL for 20 seasons, including 13 with the San Diego Chargers from 1990 to 2002. He established the foundation in 1992 to help San Diego County youth programs and started Shop with a Jock in 1994. The foundation has worked to continue Seau's legacy since he committed suicide in 2012.

Shop with a Jock is expected to run from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and includes a motivational percussion performance and a dinner party for the participating athletes and children.

By City News Service

Photo by Renee Schiavone/Patch