How Jerod Cherry New England Patriots Super Bowl ring gave new life to 2. Thailand. Jerod Cherry was attending a religious youth conference in 2. Super Bowl titles he won with the New England Patriots. The gathered teens had fallen $2. Courtney Cherest, wondered whether Cherry might be in the mood to cover the difference. Cherest was joking, kind of. She was a Peyton Manning fan and something of a Tom Brady hater, and when Cherry walked by her during a break, she asked, . Here's everything you need to know. Cherry laughed, kind of. Then he went home, went to bed and lay awake engaged in a 1. Even if Cherest had just been messing with him, hey, everyone knows there's an element of truth in all humor. That same day, Cherry had been touched by an underprivileged kid from West Virginia who spoke at the Momentum Youth Conference in Cedarville, Ohio. He was helping at this event only because his wife was serving as a volunteer. He had no clue he was walking into a day that would inspire him to help protect two dozen orphans in Thailand from the scourge of extreme poverty, drugs, sex trafficking and education- free childhoods. He was meant to be in this place, at this time. Free shipping on purchases over $25 or free same-day store pick-up on every order plus free and easy returns. Save an extra 5% every day with your Target REDcard. Watch breaking news videos, viral videos and original video clips on CNN.com. Men catch 15-foot-long, 144-pound python in the Florida Everglades.He grew up poor around Oakland and Berkeley, California. He said his family spent some time on welfare, and he often tried to get by on a diet of french fries. Cherry tells the story of being without phone service in his home for three years because his father had given him money to compete in a high- level track meet in Texas. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images. College recruiters couldn't call him, but they found him anyway. Cherry said Columbia University offered him a grant to come east, and an Ivy League education in the world's most prominent market was hard to turn down. But Cherry couldn't consider anything but a full scholarship, no questions asked, and he settled on a political science curriculum at Cal- Berkeley, where he earned a master's in education and enough respect as a safety to get picked in the second round of the 1. New Orleans Saints. He became a special- teams player for the Patriots in 2. Cedarville conference after a fitful night of sleep and declare himself ready to do something useful with one of them. To keep the pipeline moving for space exploration concepts, NASA regularly entertains pitches via its NIAC program. For a concept to receive final approval and. Is this the ultimate diet carb? The rice with just 8 calories in every bowl. One portion of Slim Rice is said to make you feel full for four hours. Eat This and Lose Belly Fat! Eat to lose your spare tire, with these fat burning foods from The Abs Diet for Women. Tupperware Cereal, No Carbs and Gin: Inside Queen Elizabeth II's Daily Diet Habits. Last year, when I was reviewing food researcher Brian Wansink Two years ago, I did a 12-day Cool Whip experiment to demonstrate to my daughter the impact of chemicals on food. The outcome was so bizarre, it left. Cherry knew he had to donate the ring that meant the most to him: the one from Super Bowl XXXVI and the upset of the high- flying St. That ring symbolized the first hour of the Patriots' dynasty and the birth of the Patriot Way.'Truly transformational for these kids'No, it wasn't an easy choice. Cherry had three tackles in that 2. Rams, including one on a punt for a 1- yard loss. He poured a river of blood, sweat and tears into that journey, which he called, . Just the most physically taxing season that you could put your body through. The grind made the ring more special. But Cherry had read about Cain and Abel, and he decided his sacrifice needed to be more like Abel's. But my thought was, 'If I'm going to give anything that's sacrificial and supposed to represent my faith in God, I'd better give my best and what I care about the most.'. Cherry ended up running into Tom Brady and his family at a benefit concert, and Brady's sister, Nancy, who has done extensive work for African causes, put the former Patriot in touch with an organizer who could maximize the value of the ring. They decided on a raffle that wouldn't exclude the average fan, who is usually overwhelmed by the heavy corporate hitters at an auction. Raffle tickets went for two bucks a pop, with a minimum purchase of five tickets. The winner was promised a ring from an epic Super Bowl and about $1. The raffle cleared more than $1. Cherry's choosing. Some of the proceeds went to charities such as Boston for Africa and Feed My Starving Children. Some of the money went to Asia's Hope, a Christian organization that builds homes and provides educational opportunities, food and medical care for orphaned children in Thailand, Cambodia and India, where children are often victims of, among other things, sexual exploitation. I easily could've given the second or third one, and nobody would've said anything. But my thought was, 'If I'm going to give anything that's sacrificial and supposed to represent my faith in God, I'd better give my best and what I care about the most.'. John Mc. Collum, the organization's executive director, said these hill tribe children are trans- nationals who are afforded virtually no rights by the government and are often left with no hope of building substantial lives after their parents are killed while working in the drug trade. They are, effectively, refugees in their own land, some of them living near the Burmese border without electricity or basic utilities. Mc. Collum said the high school graduation rates among these hill tribe children are estimated to be between 2 and 1. The orphanages, Mc. Collum stressed, are not the institutional type defined by what he called . The homes generally have staffer- to- child ratios of 1- to- 4 or 1- to- 5, and they are designed to approximate family living; married couples and their biological children form the core of the extended family unit. Mc. Collum said Asia's Hope tries to keep orphaned siblings together and doesn't evict or . Courtesy of Asia's Hope. Tutu Bee, who runs the 1. Asia's Hope homes in Thailand, used to be one of those kids. She was the hill tribe daughter of an orphaned father, and she lived in a small bamboo hut until she was 1. Bee saw people from her Skaw Karen tribe acting as drug couriers in order to support their families. She knew of children who left the tribe on long, desperate walks to the city and were never seen again. She knew of teenage girls who were forced into prostitution. Heartbroken by what she saw in her village, Bee devoted her life to changing the cycle of dysfunction and despair. Now she lives among the orphans of Doi Saket 4, the home built on a foundation of Cherry's kindness. They eat together, play together, pray together and watch a little TV together. The girls sleep in bunk beds in one big room, the boys in another. Asked what would've likely become of these children if Cherry or some kindred spirit hadn't provided them a home, Bee said, . Some girls might've gone to brothels because they would've had no choice. They had to do something for a living. They can find a job in the city, and they can go back to their village and develop their own tribes. Bee said she is becoming a supporter of the Ohio State Buckeyes; Asia's Hope has its home office in Columbus, Ohio. She had a couple of questions about the upcoming Super Bowl between New England and the Atlanta Falcons, and of greater consequence, she had a message she wanted to pass along to the former Patriot Cherry. Cherry that his donation is very meaningful to all 2. He's given them new life. We all appreciate him, and we would like him to come and visit us here. In some ways, he was the perfect Patriot or the perfect Belichick player. He appeared in 1. NFL games and didn't start in a single one of them. His intelligence and special teams hustle are what kept him in the league for nine years. When Adam Vinatieri made his kick to win Super Bowl XXXVI, Cherry secured his first championship on any level, Pop Warner included. As ecstatic as he was, Cherry said he was suddenly struck by the thought that he hadn't reached the pinnacle of anything. NFL/Getty Images. He described the moment as a spiritual awakening; he described the 2. Cherry doesn't wear his Patriots rings from Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX, in part because he finds them a bit ostentatious. Besides, nothing in his football life could compare to that 2. Fifteen years later, Cherry is thrilled that his most selfless team has contributed to a most selfless cause. He looked over some pictures that Tutu Bee sent from Doi Saket 4, photos of children who are no longer forgotten souls living outside the margins of civilized society. Cherry said the images left him wanting to do more. Because a stranger from across the globe gave them a fighting chance. That's why. Brady was the most valuable player in New England's victory over the Rams. That much is not in dispute. But a man who made a few tackles that night, Jerod Cherry, is the Patriot who owns - - or used to own - - the most valuable ring in Super Bowl history.
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