Raven Ray Rice Gives Away School Supplies

Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens earns his living by getting hand-offs from quarterbacks. On Friday, he was the one doing the hand-offs -- and a lot of local children were glad to see him.

Rice and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake teamed up, along with Baltimore charity Diakon Kathryn's Kloset, to donate 1,000 book bags filled with school supplies to local students on Friday afternoon.

Rice, the starting tailback for the Ravens, and Rawlings-Blake handed out the backpacks -- which had been filling Diakon Kathryn's Kloset's 53,000-square foot warehouse in Baltimore -- to the children, many of whom arrived from Glenmar Elementary School in Middle River.

The running back personally greeted many of the students by placing the packs on their backs and shaking their hands.

“Being in a position that enables me to give back is such a blessing to me,” said Rice. “My goal is to give these kids the tools they need to learn.”

The children certainly enjoyed meeting Rice, who had played in the Ravens' game in Philadelphia the night before.

“I'm just so proud of my teachers and parents for making this happen,” said Glenmar Elementary Principal Mike Parker. “In these economic times, we try to do as much to help the parents and the students as possible.”

United Healthcare also arranged for health services organizations such as People's Community Health Centers, Kool Smiles, YO! Baltimore, Parents' Place of Maryland and Macy's to provide school supplies, vision and hearing screenings and dental supplies to children and families in attendance.

People's Community Health Centers, which provides full-service primary care medical care, as well as dental care, substance abuse, and mental health care to patients in Baltimore regardless of income or insurance status, was there to provide bood pressure screenings.