January 19th, 2012 
On January 16th, Allstate launched its fourth annual Give Back Day program with the help of former NFL quarterback and co-founder of HollyRod Foundation, Rodney Peete. The volunteer program, designed to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., encourages citizens across the nation to pitch in and give back to their communities. The program also highlights the efforts of the four dedicated volunteers named the 2012 Give Back Day Heroes. The heroes, Joyce Calvin of Chicago, Robert Cradle of Baltimore, John Darjean of Dallas, and Atlanta’s own Alexandria Phillips, organized community service projects in their hometowns on their “day off”. This year, Rodney Peete teamed up with Alexandria Phillips for the painting and beautification project at Humphries Elementary School. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Peete about the project, his dedication to service, and much more!
Rodney Peete (Photo Credit: Allstate)
How did you get involved with Allstate’s Give Back Day program?
My wife and I have our own foundation. We try to instill service in our kids, and we do a lot of community service work in general. It fit the mode with what Allstate was trying to accomplish, so they asked me to be a part of it. I jumped at the opportunity because it’s a tremendous platform to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to recognize every day African American heroes around the country for their volunteer work and charity work throughout the year. It’s something that we need to celebrate more, and I was excited to be a part of it. I’m ecstatic to be partnered with Allstate because they are walking the walk when it comes to prolonging the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.
There are plenty of great volunteer opportunities throughout the country right now. What appealed to you about the Humphries Elementary School project?
Dealing with young people, number one. So often we’re consumed with our own lives, and I think it’s important for young people, and young kids never to forget the sacrifices that were made for them. I think of the way the generation is now. We’ve got so many electronics, and kids don’t get out to play or work anymore. They sit at home playing video games, watching T.V. or are on the computer. We’re losing sight of what it means to say hello to your neighbor or to help those who are less fortunate. I think it’s important to start at young age and bring that back. I think we’re losing that a little bit. So to be here at Humphries Elementary School, and to be here with so many volunteers and so many students who showed up to help beautify the school, showed them that we care, and we want to create an environment where it’s great for them to learn. It was really important, and it’s important for me to be a part of it.
Rodney Peete and Alexandria Phillips at Humphries Elementary School (Photo Credit: Allstate)
You’ve said you teach your children to live by the Marion Edelman quote, “Service is the rent we pay for living on this planet.” How do you encourage others to get involved in their communities?
There are so many ways. We get stagnate in thinking I can’t be of service or I can’t donate any money right now, so I’m not going to do anything. And so much of it is not about money. It’s about your time and what you can do. It’s little things. It’s one day a week or a couple of hours a week, a few hours a month, or whatever you can spare. You’ll get so much more fulfillment out of it. We try to get our kids, especially around the holidays, to volunteer at soup kitchens and give past gifts that they’ve gotten to kids that don’t receive gifts. There are a lot of things you can do to help in your city or in your neighborhood. That’s one of the things Allstate has done. Go to the Give Back Day website, and you’ll find thousands of ways you can give back in your own community. Just punch in your zip code, and you can figure out ways to help out in the schools, the community center, or Boys and Girls Club. They set it up to where it’s easy for individuals to figure out how they can give back to their communities.
Why do you think it’s important to donate your time to a cause instead of just donating money?
Obviously we all need resources to get things done, but I think when people see your face, they know you’re donating your time, which is such a precious commodity that people take for granted. When you show up at places, it shows people you are willing to put the time in, and it makes that much more of a difference. And plus, you get the hands-on fulfillment of showing up and being in the mix and being in the action. When you interact with people who appreciate your service or volunteer work, it makes such a difference in your own life. I know it does for me, and it does for my kids. I can see it in my own kids when they are exchanging gifts for kids who think they aren’t going to get anything for Christmas, and when these kids get a little gift, my kids get more excited about that than when they get something for themselves. It’s genuine. You can feel the warmth in your heart when you give somebody some hope, show them that there’s some light at the end of the tunnel, and that there are people out there who really care and really want them to have a better quality of life.
Rodney raking at Humphries Elementary (Photo Credit: Allstate)
You’re the co-founder of the HollyRod Foundation. Would you like to tell me a little about it?
We started the HollyRod foundation when my father-in-law was alive. He had Parkinson’s disease. We’re helping people with physical therapy, treatments, medicine, anything you can think of to improve their quality of life. Then our youngest son was diagnosed with autism, so we devoted our lives to that as well. We are thankful that we were able to diagnose him early and give him the therapies he needed to help enhance his quality of life. That’s what we’re trying to share with other families. Sometimes when you get that diagnosis, your child is suffering for a neurological disorder or a disease, you think that’s the end, and you don’t have any light at the end of the tunnel or any hope. So we try to give them that hope. That’s what we’re working on. One of our programs involves working with kids who are suffering from autism and are non-verbal. We’re doing an iPad program with several different applications that allows the kids to have a voice, so non-verbal kids can actually communicate without speaking. It has opened the doors of communications between families, friends and kids who are non-verbal. It gives them a voice so they can communicate with their teachers, their friends and their families.
If someone wants to get involved in the HollyRod Foundation, what are some of the ways they could do that?
They can go to our website to find volunteer opportunities. There are different ways to get involved in our iPad program. You can also get involved with Autism Speaks or a similar organization in your community.
