The football season is officially over, and so is the successful first-year Boys Town My Cause, My Cleats campaign. What began with a meet-and-greet event in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, between Boys Town New England staff and New England Patriots rookie offensive lineman Caedan Wallace, concluded on February 12 with the announcement that Wallace’s cleats would be heading to Omaha to be displayed in the Boys Town campus’ Hall of History.
Boys Town raised $4,083 from 76 donations and submitted a collective online bid as part of the NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats auction. The winning bid ensures the cleats will return to the same place where they were originally designed and painted by students in Anne Tompsett’s Boys Town High School arts class.
“This is the fitting conclusion to what has truly been an example of how powerful ‘One Boys Town’ can be,” Boys Town New England Director of Development Glenn Hofmann said. “Staff, employees, students, donors and the communities of our home campus in Omaha and the Bazarsky campus in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, all contributed to the success. Most importantly, this project made a meaningful impact on the students in Omaha and Portsmouth and will now benefit our Foster Care programs in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.”
The My Cause, My Cleats initiative began in 2016, but this was the first year Boys Town New England participated. All proceeds from the auction will support Boys Town New England’s Foster Care program—Wallace’s chosen cause.