HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - University of Southern Mississippi defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches took time out to make the Thanksgiving holiday brighter for some of the area homeless.
On Wednesday, Nunez-Roches took sleeping bags and backpacks to the Field House for the Homeless to hand out. The backpacks contained several different items, including gloves, socks, hats, toiletries and canned goods.
WDAM-TV (https://bit.ly/1ymSY9T) reports Nunez-Roches and his family, who are originally from Dangriga, Belize but now live in Phenix City, Alabama, were homeless at one time, so he says that’s why it is important for him to give back.
“It started in high school in the 10th grade,” he said. “I started doing this with my mother because we have been in this situation where we were homeless. Now we’re in a better situation with me playing ball in college and my mother having a job. That’s why we like giving back to the homeless.”
Nunez-Roches told The Hattiesburg-American (https://hatne.ws/1AWTpdD ) that he’s “really blessed.”
“Just looking back on what we’ve been through. (But) everything from my past made me who I am today.”
Nunez-Roches recalled the nights he and his mother, Nancy Nunez, spent in the two-person family’s car when hard times found them.
The scars left from old wounds have scarcely faded for his mother.
“We did go through a difficult time,” she said, noting she and her son were left homeless twice. “We probably could’ve gone to a shelter but we didn’t. I thank God for giving me strength.”
No matter how grim things became, they leaned on each other for support, strengthening an already strong bond. Thanksgiving and Christmas were, and always have been, important to them.
Nunez, a staunch believer in helping those who can’t help themselves, teamed up with her son after coming to the United States on an initiative when Nunez-Roches was in junior high school. “Bookbags for the Homeless,” they dubbed it - a way to pay it forward to those less fortunate.
“We’ve been in those situations ourselves where we’ve been unfortunate and didn’t have anything, or lost what we did have,” Nunez-Roches said. “But my mom is always about impacting someone else’s life. Even when you don’t have the most, doing something for someone else.”
“We learned it from my mother and her parents,” Nunez said. “Everyone’s in need. I’ve been a single mother all my life. It was hard. But I’m very thankful. Everyone, every day - regardless of your income or lifestyle - every now and again, (everyone) needs help. And that’s what we try to do.”
The NFL prospect, who missed much of last season with an injury, saw a need to continue his family’s work after arriving in Hattiesburg. Last year, the first time Nunez-Roches went out on his own, he delivered more than 20 bookbags. This year, he said there was a significant increase in the amount and number of donations he collected. Last week, a perfect stranger gave $150 to Nunez-Roches’ cause - an all-time high.
He said the project helps him feel connected to his family while they’re apart.
Nunez beams when she hears her son say such things.
“I broke down in tears when I found out he started (“Bookbags for the Homeless”) at college,” she said. “I said, ’Our kids do listen and watch what we’re doing.’ It really affected me.”
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