Giving the gift of giving: Norvells’ foundation helps athletes donate to their favorite causes

In the three-plus years since her family moved to Tallahassee, Maria Norvell has been awed by how much time and effort Florida State football players — and athletes across the university — give to local schools and other youth organizations.

Some of those efforts have been publicized. Many have not.

“I’m always just blown away with how much they want to give,” she said. “They’re so busy, and they still stay involved. It’s really great.”

It was during a conversation about that topic with Jennifer Collins, the wife of Florida State Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins, that a new idea was born:

What if there was a way to help Florida State student-athletes donate more than their time to causes they believe are important?

Introducing: Seminoles Give.

Maria and her husband, Mike, Florida State’s head football coach, had already established the Keep Climbing Family Foundation as a way to direct their charitable donations to worthy causes. Inspired by that conversation with Jennifer Collins, they decided to use their organization to help those athletes donate real dollars to the charities they want to help.

“Our student-athletes are so great when it comes to giving their time,” Maria Norvell said. “They are involved in so many different things in helping the community. And a lot of it is quiet — you don’t even know all that they’re doing. But most of them can’t really give financially. So this is a way to help them do that.”

The way it works is the Keep Climbing Family Foundation will commit a certain financial amount (at least $2,500) to a student-athlete’s cause, and then the athlete will use his or her platforms to raise additional funds. Then the athlete will present the entire donation in their own name to the charity.

The first two players to take part in Seminoles Give are quarterback Jordan Travis and women’s basketball star Ta’Niya Latson.

Travis selected the Kids Cancer Society of Palm Beach in his hometown. Latson picked Riley Elementary School in Tallahassee.

“They were so excited,” Maria Norvell said. “They were grateful. And they knew right away exactly who they wanted to help. It was special to them, and they were just really grateful for the opportunity to help out.”

The efforts are only beginning.

Other Florida State football players have already signed up to take part in Seminoles Give in the coming months, and Mike Norvell has spread the word to other head coaches on campus that their athletes will be able to participate as well.

On Wednesday, three FSU football players jumped to the front of the line. Defensive back Jarrian Jones, defensive tackle Fabien Lovett and running back Trey Benson — all of whom hail from Mississippi — announced they are working to raise funds for tornado victims in their home state. A violent storm this past weekend killed at least 21 people and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Here is the link to donate directly to the players’ tornado relief fund, which is being seeded by a donation from the Keep Climbing Family Foundation.

Maria Norvell spoke with Warchant about the Seminoles Give project just before the Mississippi players came forward with their request.

“I think that’s one of my favorite things — just seeing what they care about,” she said. “There’s so much more to these players than people realize. So seeing what they care about and working with them to make that a reality — for them to help a cause that is important to them or their families.”

Along with making donations directly to the funds initiated by Florida State athletes, the foundation also accepts general contributions. There is a pull-down menu on the site that allows donors to choose.

The organization also has one day left in its auction of Mike Norvell’s signed and game-worn grey hoodie, with the proceeds going directly to Seminoles Give. As of Thursday morning, the auction had raised $5,225; the bidding closes at noon ET on March 31.

When asked how ambitious their long-term vision is, Maria Norvell said they don’t want to set any goals or limits. Right now, they have one do-everything employee, chief operating officer Emily Whidden, but they hope to expand to help as many people as possible.

“She is instrumental in working with the charities,” Norvell said of Whidden. “She is the one who reaches out to everyone, she created the web site, she’s done it all. She’s been great. … There’s need everywhere. So we try to help groups that reach a lot of different people in different communities.”

Before the launch of Seminoles Give, the first big project for the Norvells’ foundation was a drive last December to purchase new coats for kindergarten and first-grade students at Sabal Palm Elementary. Working with school teachers, they were able to get sizes for each student; more than 160 jackets were provided.

“The interaction between the players and the kids on that day that they got their coats … that was the best part of it,” Maria Norvell said. “It was wonderful.”

Norvell believes those emotions might be even stronger when the players are directly helping raise money through social media and their other platforms, and when they are making the donations in their own names. It’s something that could inspire a lifetime of giving.

“They get to present the donation, and it’s just a wonderful feeling for them that they get to make that impact,” she said. “And then hopefully it’s something where they will continue to do things like that later in their lives when they are able (financially) to do that.”

Mike and Maria Norvell, of course, have also set that example with their recent $1 million donation to Florida State athletics.

“We’ve been blessed,” she said. “We just want to give back.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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