Former Joseph’s Home for Boys resident and current Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman DeAngelo Tyson returns to Statesboro this week for his second annual Tyson Foundation dinner and golf tournament.
The proceeds help fund the reopening of a local boys’ home. The 2015 event was hugely successful and for the second year in a row, dinner tickets are sold out a month in advance.
A local football celebrity, Tyson is passionate about giving back to the community that took care of him. As part of the upcoming fundraising events, Tyson will speak to students this week at six schools in Bulloch County to share his story of faith and trust.
Abandoned by his birth parents, Tyson spent the majority of his young life at Joseph’s Home for Boys, a now-closed long-term group home in Statesboro that provided a stable living environment for troubled or deserted kids.
After graduating from Statesboro High in 2008, Tyson became the first teen from Joseph’s Home to go to college when he earned a football scholarship to the University of Georgia. Selected in the seventh round of the 2012 draft by the Baltimore Ravens, Tyson spent three seasons with the team, including winning the 2013 Super Bowl, before signing with Seattle earlier this year.
Now two years old, the Tyson Foundation states as its mission: “To serve youth, young athletes and teenage mothers through support and opportunities that will empower them to unlock their own personal potential. The Foundation is dedicated to building young adults and families through new hope.”
Since the 2015 fundraiser, the foundation has reached two important milestones. The first was raising more than $73,000 at the first dinner and golf tournament. The second milestone was reached in October 2015, when the foundation closed on 12 acres of property with a 3,600-square-foot-home and a 1,900-square-foot clubhouse for a boys’ home in Bulloch County.
“Our foundation has become a success right before our eyes,” Tyson said. “To have a group home in place in less than a year is a blessing. It shows the hard work that our board has put forth to get us to that point and God allowing things to fall in place according to his plan.”
The funds raised coupled with the sale of the previous home owned by Joseph’s Inc. purchased the property for Broken Shackle Ranch, the name of the new home, with no debt left to pay.
“I look forward to this year’s event because we want to continue to show the youth here in Statesboro and Bulloch County that we support them and want to touch their lives,” he said. “We have a lot of great ideas moving forward and are happy with the support we are getting from our community.
“With the continued support from this community, the Tyson Foundation will continue to do its part by giving hope to our youth.”
As for some of those future plans, the board unanimously agreed to use the funds raised in 2016 to support a new sports complex adjacent to the boys’ home at the new 7th Mile Ranch Campground, founded by Fostering Bulloch.
Once completed, the fields will offer a safe space for youth to be mentored by community members and participate in teambuilding through playing sports. The facility will be called the DeAngelo Tyson Sports Complex.
Speaking to local school children last year, like he will do again this week prior to the fundraising event to share his story of faith and trust, Tyson said of his dream to play football, “You gotta have confidence in yourself that you can reach that goal.”
Currently, spots are available for four more golf teams for the tournament on Friday. The tournament is set for Forest Heights Country Club with shotgun start at 1 p.m. Teams are $500 and interested golfers can sign up with Kim Brannen at Sea Island Bank. Call (912) 489-9276 or register online at www.thetysonfoundation.org.