CHARLOTTE — The Christmas holiday came early for dozens of students in the Charlotte area this week, thanks to one Panthers player.
One of the top punters in the NFL, the Carolina Panthers’ Johnny Hekker, is using his platform to pay it forward to the Charlotte community.
The Pro Bowl nominee kicked off his “Give Back Week” on Monday at Academy Sports in Matthews where he treated 30 children from the Police Activities League to a shopping spree.
On Tuesday, Hekker was at Spare Time in Pineville where he partnered with the Special Olympics of North Carolina to treat 30 children to a day full of bowling and arcade games.
>> In the video at the top of this page, Channel 9′s DaShawn Brown talked to Hekker about his mission to give back.
VIDEO: Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson, partners provide free dental clinic at stadium
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/11-29-2022/t_81452bc9336f458aaa9d3d46a695a5c7_name_DB_SHAQ_TEAM_SMILE_RAW__0050_frame_0.jpeg)
©2022 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/72VHCEYTCWUFVHIYIBDXSBXDFM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/FEQN5XIF2NGLRI5M75E6XI6ALA.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/C2U2KANLVFB6LIKEIHGWC7OCNI.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/O64AS4PSV5EDZEFWERPIV46ZNQ.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/BGH2EHJ6EFA35B7G6HANWPZAUM.png)