Welcome to the official website of the Drayton Florence Foundation, founded by NFL veteran cornerback Drayton Florence with our charitable giving efforts focused on Drayton’s hometown of Ocala, Florida.

Established in 2005, the Drayton Florence Foundation was founded with a mission to educate, motivate and stimulate youth, preparing them for a lifetime of success. In 2010, that mission was expanded to specifically serve the children and families of our active military.

A child of a military family himself, with both his father and currently his sister serving our country, Drayton Florence, cornerback for the Carolina Panthers and founder of the Drayton Florence Foundation, is all too aware of the challenges families face during these deployments.

In communities all across our country, men and women in our military are leaving behind family and friends as they are called to protect our freedom.  And it’s not just in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Our soldiers are all over the world in places like Bosnia, Egypt, Korea and more.  Military families struggle with issues including finances, child care and particularly the stresses involved with raising children and maintaining the family unit during this separation.  These families make sacrifices for you and me every single day.

It is because of this passion in Drayton’s heart to give back to our military families that the mission was refocused in 2010. 2011 marks the second year that the Drayton Florence Foundation has partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project to provide game day tickets to our troops wounded while serving our country.  Each year, the foundation hosts a holiday party for our local military families, complete with gifts, games and activities for the entire family. In addition, through partnerships with local organizations dedicated to providing support to our troops, the Drayton Florence Foundation plans to create a mentoring program right in Charlotte for children of military families.  Through this unique program, children will be paired with an adult who shared the same unique experiences in their childhood.

In addition to his focus on military families, Drayton continues to give back to underprivileged children in his hometown of Ocala, Florida. In addition to a free youth football camp every summer, Drayton celebrates Thanksgiving with local students who are participants in the Take Stock in Children program, and Christmas with children from a local community center.  He created a LABS program to help provide the technology for Marion County, FL students to succeed in the classroom.

The Drayton Florence Foundation is committed to giving back in Ocala, and will continue to strive to provide for both our military families who sacrifice so much for our freedom and our community children whose families are struggling simply to make ends meet.