Black 14 donates food to Atlanta Community Food Bank – Church News

EAST POINT, Georgia — In collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Black 14 Philanthropy and College Football Hall of Fame donated 36,000 pounds of food to the Atlanta Community Food Bank on Tuesday, April 7.

“One of our missions is to help the communities that need food,” said Mel Hamilton of the Black 14 Philanthropy. “So far, we’ve delivered 1.75 million pounds of food since 2020. … We want to feed as many people as we can.”

Hamilton and his former teammate Tony McGee represented the Black 14 at the donation event at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Members of the Black 14 Philanthropy are pictured with representatives from the College Football Hall of Fame, Atlanta Community Food Bank and partner agencies, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following a donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank in East Point, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. | Alicia Lee, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Hamilton and McGee were two of the 14 Black players unfairly dismissed from the University of Wyoming football team in 1969 after asking to participate in a peaceful racial protest prior to a game against Brigham Young University. At the time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a policy preventing Black men from priesthood ordination. The Church’s policy was changed in 1978.

The athletes have since reconciled with the University of Wyoming, BYU and the Church. In 2019, the surviving members of the Black 14 started the Black 14 Philanthropy to give back to the community and help those in need. They began collaborating with the Church in 2020 to donate food to food banks around the country.

This donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank was particularly meaningful to McGee, who is a resident of Atlanta. “We’re 14 individuals that may have had a bad thing happen to us, but we’re above that,” McGee said of the Black 14. “Now what we want to do is help as many people as we can. … We’re not worried about a legacy for us. We’re worried about a legacy for the world.”

Pallets of food unloaded from a truck from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are pictured at the Atlanta Community Food Bank in East Point, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The Black 14, College Football Hall of Fame and the Church collaborated to donate 36,000 pounds of food to the Atlanta food bank. | Alicia Lee, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The nonperishable food items including applesauce, beans, macaroni, peanut butter and rice will provide much needed assistance to the metro Atlanta area. The Atlanta Community Food Bank works with 700 partner agencies to serve 29 counties.

Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, expressed his gratitude for the donation.

“We’re serving 70% more people today than we did four years ago,” he said. “Inflation has just caused lines to get longer at food pantries all across our community, and so we need every bit of support we can get to meet that demand. The donation today is going to help us get more food to the people who need it, and it couldn’t come at a more important time.”

Mel Hamilton, left, and Tony McGee, middle, of the Black 14 talk with Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, at the food bank on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The Black 14, College Football Hall of Fame and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collaborated for a donation to the food bank. | Alicia Lee, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Several of the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s partner agencies who will benefit from the donation also attended the event.

LaShawn Quinn of the Southeast Gwinnett County Cooperative Ministry explained what this donation means to her organization. “We are a ministry first who happens to be a food pantry, and this is how we show love to people. Our clients are not just clients who come to get food, they come to be loved on. … So this donation that we are receiving through the Atlanta Community Food Bank through the Black 14, which is very historic, will definitely impact our families not just today but for a while.”

Farah Quraishi of Humanity First USA Duluth Food Pantry said the donation will help them serve their existing families and extend services to new families who come in. “Essentially, this donation ensures that we don’t turn away anybody from food,” she said.

This donation marks the second time the Black 14 and the Church have collaborated with the College Football Hall of Fame for a donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. In February 2024, the Black 14 donated 40,000 pounds to the food bank. The donation coincided with a Black History Month event at the Hall of Fame featuring a display honoring the Black 14’s story and screenings of a short film about the Black 14 produced by BYU students.

Denis Crawford of the College Football Hall of Fame talks with Jorge Villalobos of the Atlanta Community Food Bank at the food bank in East Point, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The Black 14, the College Football Hall of Fame and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collaborated for a food donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. | Alicia Lee, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Denis Crawford, historian and exhibit designer at the College Football Hall of Fame, said he is inspired by the Black 14’s story and desire to work with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to “attack the problem of food inequality head on.”

“We’re just honored to play a small part in helping perpetuate that here in town,” Crawford said. “It’s an honor and a privilege, really, because as one organization by itself, the Hall of Fame can only do so much. But the Hall of Fame, in combination with the Black 14 and [Church of Jesus Christ], we’ve been able to bring tens of thousands of pounds of food to the community, and that means a great deal to us.”