The Stefanski family first started The Keepers Foundation to continue to give back to the Northeast Ohio community and serve underprivileged and disadvantaged kids. As a core belief of the Browns' organization to give back to the local community, Stefanski wanted to build off the franchise's presence in the community and use their platform as a family to help others.
Stefanski has been the head coach of the Browns since 2020, and over the past five years has established roots in Northeast Ohio for him and his family. As the city of Cleveland has embraced him and his family, he knew the importance of finding ways to give back to the Cleveland community.
"It's year two for us with The Keepers Foundation, and it's something that's really important to Michelle and me," Stefanski said. "It's important to our kids. It's important that our kids understand that we're in a unique position where we can give back. We have a platform in this city, and we have the ability to help kids that need our help. And that's really important for our kids to know, and I think it's just important for us to give back to a city that has given us so much."
In its first year in 2024, The Keepers Foundation held two events in June – beginning with the flag football tournament, and a fundraiser event called "Night Out by the Lake with Coach Stefanski & Friends."
In its second year, Stefanski said they are working to grow the Keepers Foundation and the impact they can have in the city of Cleveland.
"The big thing for us is maximizing an impact," Stefanski said. "We identified very early on the group that we wanted to help, and that was disadvantaged youth in our community. We've been able to meet some amazing people through this process. And we're growing. We're trying to also, every single year, learn something new in different areas that we can give back. And at the core of this, as you see the kids competing behind this, we want to make sure that we're lifting up the spirits of some kids throughout our community. And I think tonight goes a long way in doing that."
For more information on The Keepers Foundation please visit: [https://www.thekeepersfoundation.org/](https://www.thekeepersfoundation.org/). To get tickets to "Night Out by the Lake," visit [www.Keepers.givesmart.com](http://www.Keepers.givesmart.com).