Jason Kelsey He has a reputation for charitable work around the holidays — but this year he wanted to live up to it.
This coincided with the release of his charity album on the occasion of Eid. Special Christmas Party in Philly — which has benefited local Philadelphia charities for the third year in a row — Kelsey, 37, and her musical collaborators Jordan Mailata and Lynn Johnson They reached out to their former Eagles teammate, Connor BarwinWith an unprecedented idea.
“Last year, Jason, Jordan and Lynn came to me and said they wanted to do something really big,” the 38-year-old Barwin said. A video was posted on Kelce's YouTube channel On Thursday, December 26th. “They wanted to use the proceeds from the registry to get a gift to every child in the Philadelphia Public School District.”
Barwin added: “At first I thought it wasn't possible. Jason pushed me.
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With the holiday season quickly approaching, the group began working on what became known as Operation Snowball.
Two weeks before Christmas, Kelsey showed off the wonderful fruits of their labor. “We have a whole warehouse full of toys,” Kelsey said in the video. “I've never seen anything quite like this, to be honest with you.”
“To pull something like this off? Between the games, the logistics, the schools, the teachers, the faculty. This is a really huge lift for a lot of people. I don't know that this can be achieved in many places other than Philadelphia,” Kelce added.
One week before Christmas, Kelsey and the crew enlisted the help of another famous friend: comedian W.K Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson.
“Dude, thanks for coming. Holy cow,” Kelce told the 31-year-old Davidson.
Davidson helped distribute gifts at Benjamin Franklin High School in Philadelphia, where he jokingly referred to himself as the “Group of Eagles.”
Meanwhile, across town at Kirkbride Elementary School, Kelsey was presented with several friendship bracelets by excited students, a clear nod to… Taylor SwiftJason's younger brother's girlfriend, Travis.
Jason made another stop at Alliance for Progress Charter School, where he took the microphone and addressed the students.
Jason Kelsey pulled out all the stops for Philly Specials' third and final holiday album — including a duet with his wife, Kylie Kelsey. Kylie, 32, joins Jason, 37, on “Loud Little Town,” released on Friday, November 22, at a special Christmas concert in Philly. “It's very quiet now in our little voice (…)”
“Seeing the joy on all of your faces makes it all worth it,” he told them. “I hope you enjoy the gifts. Most importantly, I wish you a happy holiday.”
When a local news reporter told Jason that some students had already said they planned to give their gifts to their siblings, he joked, “If returning gifts isn't in the spirit of Christmas, I don't know what is.”
In the end, Operation Snowball distributed more than 1 million gifts to more than 200,000 students in 338 different buildings.
“To let 200,000 kids know, even in the smallest ways, that they matter and that people are thinking about them during the holidays. It's hard to understate how powerful that is, and I think Jason and the guys get that,” Barwin said. That's what this was about.
