Jaguars shore up support of veterans with donations

1st week of November will be Jacksonville's annual Week of Valor

Mark Lamping at Week-of-Valor kick off

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars Foundation is continuing to donate to area veterans groups, fulfilling a commitment owner Shad Khan made four years ago when he pledges a million dollars over five years for Jacksonville's Military and Veterans Affairs Department. 

At an event to kick off the city's annual Week of Valor, Jaguars's President Mark Lamping announced that six groups -- including K9s for Warriors, the Five-Star Veterans Center and Northeast Florida Women's Veterans -- will split $50,000 this year.

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This comes as the Jaguars and the NFL have come under fire for the protests during the national anthem. Earlier this month, Lamping wrote a letter of apology on behalf of the Jaguars for the anthem protest during their game in London.

Lamping's letter was addressed to Bill Spann, the head of the city's Veterans and Military Affairs Department. At Thursday's event, he wouldn't say if the apology was accepted.

"It is not mine to except. The letter was written to you," Spann said, and direction any other questions to the city's public relations office.

Lamping was open to talking about what happened and the team's support of veterans. He had a message for anyone who decided to boycott the team over the issue.

"All I can ask of anybody is the same thing that you would ask of us, OK? Judge us by our actions. Judge us by what we’ve done. Judge us by our commitment to the community, and on that record we couldn't be more proud," Lamping said.

Mayor Lenny Curry apparently has accepted the team's apology and is ready to move on. He said the city should celebrate the Jaguars offering financial help for veterans.

Dee Quaranta, who runs the Northeast Florida Women’s Vet Center, is grateful for the $10,000 donation it received. She is also grateful she will be singing the national anthem during the Jaguars' military appreciation game in November. 

As for the players who took a knee during the  anthem and the team's support of that, she said everyone is entitled to an opinion, but is sure that the Jags support veterans.

"Even though there is a controversy with the anthem, I still believe the Jaguars are great supporters of our veteran community. You know we have the largest population of veterans  in the state," Quaranta said.


About the Author:

Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.