As announced last week, the Tennessee Titans New Stadium Waitlist will open to the public on Tues., Aug. 15 at 10 a.m. CT at TitansNewStadium.com. The Titans today announced that the waitlist will support local schools via a ONE Community book drive in partnership with head coach Mike Vrabel's 2nd & 7 Foundation.
Each time a new member joins the waitlist, a new book will be donated to Metro Nashville Public Schools, with the goal of getting a take-home book in the hands of every MNPS first- and second- grade student and populating books in elementary school libraries across Nashville. The initiative aims to increase reading proficiency across the community, a key component of the organization's ONE Community commitment to Education.
"Access to books is a huge barrier in increasing literacy among our future leaders, and we're so grateful to 2nd & 7 for again partnering with us to break down those barriers," said Titans Vice President and Executive Director of the Titans Foundation, Johari Matthews. "In the conversations about our ONE Community partnership with MNPS, one of the core needs they expressed to us was deeper support of their literacy initiatives. We're excited to support that objective in a creative way through the new stadium waitlist."
The donation will feature children's books from 2nd & 7's own book series, "The Hog Mollies," featuring a group of friends who learn valuable life lessons in their adventures. Co-founded by Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, the mission of 2nd & 7 is to promote reading by providing free books and positive role models to kids in need while encouraging young athletes of the community to pay it forward. The organization has donated over half a million books to kids in need across the country since 1999.
"The joy of reading is something we want every child to experience, and we appreciate the Titans for helping to get more books in the hands and homes of our youngest learners," said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools. "We look forward to celebrating this gift and continuing our partnership with the Titans to support our student athletes and scholars alike."
"We are grateful to the Tennessee Titans for their commitment to helping us tackle illiteracy," said 2nd & 7 Executive Director Amy Hoying. "Partnerships like this help highlight the critical need for access to age-appropriate books. Teachers are working so hard to keep kids on track, and we can support them by providing age-appropriate materials and community role models to inspire these young readers."
Joining the waitlist secures the member a spot in line to purchase PSLs and suites in the new stadium when sales begin. Other benefits to joining the waitlist include presale access to Nissan Stadium events, discounts at the Titans Pro Shop, priority access to home playoff games in the current stadium, special ticket offers, and access to private events. Current PSL and suite holders do not need to join the waitlist, as their priority is already secured.
ABOUT ONE COMMUNITY
ONE Community is the Tennessee Titans' multi-faceted philanthropic platform that reaches many of Nashville's most underrepresented and marginalized communities with a focus on three areas – Opportunity, Neighborhoods and Education. The Titans have binding partnership agreements with each ONE Community organization supported, and an advisory committee to help foster growth and provide accountability, oversight, and reporting measures. Powered by the Titans Foundation, ONE Community strives to create generational change one person, one family, and one community at a time.
ABOUT 2ND & 7
2nd & 7 was founded in 1999 by former Ohio State University football teammates Luke Fickell, Ryan Miller and Mike Vrabel. The mission of 2nd & 7 is to promote reading by providing free books and positive role models to kids in need while encouraging young athletes in the community to pay it forward. Through 2nd & 7's Tackling Illiteracy program, student-athletes from universities and high schools across the nation participate in reading visits in 2nd grade classrooms. The athletes use the themes in the book series created by 2nd & 7, the Hog Mollies, to reiterate valuable life lessons, serve as role models for young children in their community and underline the importance of being respectful, doing their homework, and reading every night. Each student in the program receives a FREE Hog Mollies book. 2nd & 7 was born from funds generated by a football camp in 1999, allowing Fickell, Miller and Vrabel to buy books to hand out to all of the 2nd graders in 7 schools, thus giving 2nd & 7 its name. Since then, 2nd & 7 has donated over half a million books to kids in need to nearly 200 communities in 26 states. 2nd & 7 will celebrate 25 years of making a difference in 2024.
