(Gopher Sports) — Mark your calendars football fans, as the University of Minnesota football team will host F.A.M.I.L.Y. Day presented by Abbott on Aug. 3 at TCF Bank Stadium. West Plaza gates will open at 2:30 p.m. and the team is scheduled to start practice at 3 p.m.
F.A.M.I.L.Y. Day will allow fans to get an up-close look at the team prior to the 2019 season and will also feature a free tailgate prior to practice with food, music and games. Fans will be able to watch practice from the stands and there will be inflatables, activities for kids of all ages and post-practice autographs.
In addition to the F.A.M.I.L.Y. Day activities, the Gophers will also be hosting two charitable drives to help give back to the community and will once again be collecting fan-decorated oars to display at the stadium.
For the third consecutive year under coach P.J. Fleck, Minnesota will host a diaper drive to help the smallest Gophers in Minnesota. Fans attending F.A.M.I.L.Y. Day are encouraged to bring disposable diapers. Those diapers will then be donated to the Diaper Bank of Minnesota, which provides diapers and wipes to families in need through partner agencies in the Twin Cities.
Fans can bring a six-pack of diapers or a box of 96 diapers, as every diaper donated will help a baby. Fans can also bring diapers that their little ones have grown out of, as the diaper bank will repackage them for families in need. One in three Minnesota families struggle to afford enough diapers for their babies. Diapers cost about $1,000 a year for the first three years of a child’s life and government assistance programs cannot be used to purchase diapers.
The Diaper Bank of Minnesota is run entirely by volunteers and distributes hundreds of thousands of diapers every year. Minnesota football fans donated more than 30,000 combined diapers at the team’s previous two diaper drives, which made a positive difference in the lives of many Minnesotans.
In addition to the diaper drive, the Gophers are once again partnering with Thrivent to support the Union Gospel Mission’s Heart for Hunger campaign. Fans coming to F.A.M.I.L.Y. Day are encouraged to donate non-perishable stuffing that will be provided to families in need throughout our community this November. The goal this year is to provide 60,000 Thanksgiving meals to families in the Twin Cities area.
Fans attending practice can also drop off a decorated oar in the West Plaza that will then be displayed in TCF Bank Stadium outside of Minnesota’s locker room. The assembled oars are the last thing the team sees before its takes the field for home games at TCF Bank Stadium and helps connect the team to the community.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)