TOLEDO, Ohio — What started out as a friendly game of flag football on Thanksgiving morning has turned into a charity event, raising hundreds of dollars from hundreds of participants, all helping out those in need.
The 4th annual Brotherhood Turkey Bowl is right around the corner and his year, all of the money and toys donated will go directly to victims of gun violence and their families.
The founder of the charity event, Raymond Campos, said this is his way of letting them know they're not alone. "I want to bring awareness to let people know that they do have the service providers in the community to deal with that trauma," he explained. "And to let people know that we're not going to back down from the violence and we're going to stand up against it in a positive way."
It's something that has made headlines in the Glass City this year as 57 out of the 61 homicides, as of Nov. 18, were gun-related.
"A lot of street violence, gang violence, and there's a lot of trauma going on right now," said Campos. "I just figured I wanted to bring some hope to the families, to let people know that we do care."
Campos is a juvenile parole officer and even though he hasn't been directly impacted by gun violence, he's met countless people who have been.
"I think we fail to recognize that it's a real thing. Oftentimes, people don't want to associate themselves with it because they're not impacted by it," he said. "I am someone who wants to be associated with that in a positive way."
The referee for the Turkey Bowl, Marty Calderon, is in the same boat.
"I've been coaching out here for the past ten years and a lot of my kids are that I coach," he explained. "So, it means a lot to help out with anybody that needs it."
The public is welcome to attend. It begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 25, at Danny Thomas Park in south Toledo.