Tim Tebow FoundationTim Tebow.com

Q.

What's your vision for A Brighter Day?

A.

When I was a student at the University of Florida (UF), I found great joy in taking time to encourage children suffering from cancer in hospitals or visiting a prison or juvenile detention center, or doing mission work with my family at Uncle Dick's Orphanage in the Philippines. College football and Gator nation are so popular it enables an athlete like me to establish a platform for doing good deeds, so this new Foundation is a way to take this experience to an even greater level of outreach and influence.

If I'm able to excel as an NFL Quarterback, I plan to continue to use this platform for growing our Foundation to bring hope to people in their darkest hour of need. While playing football, I will certainly continue to speak and visit people in difficult situations and promote A Brighter Day but after my professional career, I plan on giving my life full time to this outreach. So the Tebow Foundation is a beginning step in this process.

As I travel around the world as an Ambassador for compassionate outreach to those in need, I want to help start charities, support worthwhile existing ministries and to speak up for people in difficult situations. My heart's desire and passion is to make a difference in the lives of people who can't make a difference for themselves. A good way to see my future vision is to see our "charity week" at the University of Florida.

Q.

Tell us about First and 15 and especially what you have called your "charity week"?

A.

We started First and 15 as a way to mobilize students on our campus to reach out with time and money in serving others. The first year we got a late start and raised $10,000 by getting Sororities to "draft" Florida athletes who would coach and lead teams of volunteers for a fund-raising powder-puff football event. In year two we continued to expand this and it was probably one of the most fun weeks of my life and we raised nearly $340,000. It was really cool. We ended up having a 500-person banquet and football tournament. We worked all year with the NCAA and the leadership of the University of Florida student government (they did such a great job helping) – we had more than 100 volunteers helping with the "charity week".

This second year it wasn't just Sororities - it was female organizations on campus. They opened up the "draft" to everyone. It was 24 teams and 14 sororities. The Philippines House was awesome. The girl they had at quarterback was a stud. They were so ready and prepared and wanted to win. They were so excited. I was like, "Man, you all are going to win." They were doing chest bumps and were all painted up. Then they lost and I was so disappointed. I was trying to be unbiased but it wasn't working. I think they got to the third round. The first two games they won like 39-3 and I was having so much fun.

During charity week we had full-time, pretty much, 30 people working non-stop. We had eight or nine official activities other than the "draft" and the football competition. We had a trip where we took 10 kids to Disney World and we took them on buses and had jerseys and gifts for them. Disney was amazing and that was great. One of the kid's dads died three weeks before the trip and another one had a dad who died four weeks before the trip. They had never been to Disney before - they were the most underprivileged kids we could find in Gainesville. Being able to bring a brighter day to these kids who faced such a tragic loss was very special.

Q.

How did charity week compare to winning a national title?

A.

Better. Taking those kids to Disney World. And also one of the powder-puff tournaments at Florida where we brought the Boys and Girls Clubs to hang out with the athletes. What was fun was that two of my best friends on the team were the Pouncey brothers and they were the No. 1 pick in the Powder Puff, which was so cool.

Q.

Did you have a favorite moment from Disney?

A.

Seriously, the highlight was just watching these kids smile. We took them through the castle and the girls had never seen it – their smiles were contagious! There was also a room with the Chipmunks, and Mickey and all the Disney cast of characters. The kids went berserk and loved it. Seriously, every ride, they just loved being with us and holding our hands. This is the essence of what we want to do with A Brighter Day.

Q.

Do you wish the NCAA would change its rules to allow you (and other collegiate athletes) to do more charitable work while students?

A.

It would mean something to me. Here's why I wouldn't go right now and try to change the NCAA rules. You don't know if some athletes are trying to use the rules for the wrong reason. Do I feel passionate and would I like to have more freedom so I could do that? AB-SO-LUTELY. Would I like to take more Make-A-Wish trips and take people and use different resources than I have? Sure. But some athletes could try and take advantage of this. This is why the NCAA is in such a predicament. All I wanted to do was to help somebody with a charitable project and NCAA regulations won't let me do it - but then another person wants to use it for the wrong reason. I hope other College athletes will work with the NCAA to figure this challenge out so they can be catalysts for giving and caring while playing at the college level.

Q.

How much money did you raise with your charity week?

A.

With this week, we were able to raise more than $340,000 and that was really special. We were able to do so many things for Uncle Dick's Orphanage in the Philippines. This included our ability to produce not only running water but to also buy beds for kids who were sharing beds. At Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL we were also able to build a virtual playroom for sick kids. We're also helping to fund a place where families can come to Gainesville with sick kids and if they don't have a place to stay, we offer them a place to stay. Those are a few things we're doing and as you know, those things take a lot of money.

Q.

Could you ever imagine the Tebow brand you've established helping to buy an orphan a bed?

A.

It's really cool. When you look at how popular football is, it gives you a platform to do these things. This is something guys like Kurt Warner do a great job of handling, but most athletes take it for granted and they don't use it or they use it for selfish purposes. When athletes just visit hospitals or children's homes without doing anything special, it can make a big difference in people's lives.

Q.

Tell me about Uncle Dick's home in the Philippines, I know you have a strong affinity for this ministry.

A.

It takes close to three days to get to the orphanage. It involves a lot of traveling! When you say you are going to the end of the Earth, its close. When you hit the end of the Earth, you take a right. It's not in Manila. In parts of the Philippines, they don't have a lot of money - there's no money. Whatever they grow is what they have to eat.

Uncle Dick's orphanage is on the island General Santos in the little city of Lamsugod. It's in the middle of nowhere where these kids don't have much. They've gone through horrible stuff; raped, molested and thrown away.

The reason we started the orphanage was because a grandfather was about to throw a baby in the river since the parents didn't want it. The mother died in childbirth and the dad left. The grandfather said, "If no one wants it, I'm throwing it in the river." My dad couldn't watch that happen. He took the baby. My dad and his Philippine co-workers went through all the work of starting the orphanage and that's kind of how we began to take them in and raise them like they're our own family. The graduates go off to college and during Thanksgiving and Christmas they come back to the orphanage for dinner. Many of them find jobs in the area. It was really cool - when I went back there on spring break, we took the kids to a "mall". It's not really a mall. It's like a village. We took them and there's this ice cream store. It's completely horrific ice cream but it's the first time most of these kids have ever had ice cream in their life.

It was so exciting to see one of the people who graduated from our orphanage now working in town and working in this same mall see our kids. When they saw this alum all 50 kids came running up and it's like a huge group hug. It's just so cool to see the love and the ongoing relationships. It's just so cool.

Q.

As a person who has become a celebrity how has it enabled you to help Uncle Dick's Orphanage?

A.

We are in the process of changing the Orphanage- as far as helping the school get out of debt and helping them pay their annual bills. We try to take the kids to church, school and different places. Also, we try to help the Orphanage by finding running water and by fixing old wells and pipes. We also help provide some funds so they can buy more groceries in the store. It's what you would think of as every-day stuff. Some of the new things are; we're getting a new well; getting new beds and helping finish the new boy's dorm. You have to have more buildings to bring in more kids. The needs are very tangible - like getting a chainsaw so they don't have to cut down everything with an ax. When you say it, it's like, "Wow." You're really going to buy them two-by-fours and they're going to build a bed. It's incredible to watch how these small investments make such a big difference.

Q.

A few of the kids in particular have tugged at your heartstrings. Tell me a little bit about them.

A.

I met Joel when I was 15 or 16. He's one of the kids in the Orphanage. It is easy to get really attached to several of the kids. For me it was Joel, Angel and Richard. My dad would bring over some of the football game tapes and stuff. They have a TV that's tiny and only works half the time. So my dad would put in a DVD and they would be mesmerized by it. Joel was one of the biggest fans and just loved being around me and would seriously not let me go. We were just really close. He was always hugging me around my neck. I always spent time with him and he knows as much as he could about football, because we're always playing football with all the kids or tag or whatever. He's just a big fan and we've become great friends.

Joel got really sick and had to go through so many different things to get a kidney transplant. We helped raise the money for the transplant, which is so hard in the Philippines. We had to fly him several places. That's so hard because you're trying to support all these other kids and still raise $25,000 for Joel's transplant. It's hard because maybe another kid doesn't get some necessities he needs. But we decided we're raising money to keep Joel alive. And that was so cool and to see him bounce back. The last few times I was there, Joel had to stay inside and have a mask on because he's getting over the surgeries. Even though he doesn't have his energy back, it's just so exciting and fun to be a part of saving his life.

Q.

How do the children of the Philippines relate to American sports and traditions like the Gator chomp?

A.

My dad has brought back several DVDs to the Philippines. The kids will do the chomp and yell, “Go Gators.” They don't really know what it means. They know it from seeing this on their TV's - they're fun, though. They're just so excited.

Q.

As you look into the future, do you see any of these Philippino young boys and girls growing up to help you in your vision for the Tim Tebow Foundation?

A.

I don't know if you want to take these kids out of something they've known their whole lives, even though you say you would love to bring them back here. Selfishly, I would love to take some of the kids in a heartbeat. It's just hard. It takes them out of an element they've known their whole lives.

You look at a young man like Carlos - his family was driving down a mountain from a village where they live and sell groceries. Their little store is their whole livelihood. While driving down the mountain there is an accident and they start to fall off the cliff. So the whole family is tipping over and the mom throws Carlos out the window. And his little brother and everyone fall out and die. Carlos rolls down the mountain – breaks his foot and leg, cuts up all his face and knocks some teeth out. But he lives and he comes to our orphanage and I mean, seeing the joy in his life from where he was until when we got him now, it's unbelievable. This is what really gives you joy in helping kids like Carlos to give them faith, hope and love in God. It really gives you a lot of joy. Helping young men and women like Carlos is the foundation for our vision for A Brighter Day!

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