Sam Acho: A Champion off the Field

While the stars on the field dominate the headlines every week, it’s what a player does off the field which truly measures his impact.

As a two-time defending Walter Payton Man Of The Year award nominee, linebacker Sam Acho exemplifies that mentality better than anyone. Acho is involved in multiple programs throughout the Chicago Community, making life better for numerous children throughout the greater Chicagoland area. Acho was the Bears nominee for the prestigious award last year as well.

Acho’s family founded the Living Hope Christian Ministries charity, which assists in administering medicine to underprivileged people in Nigeria. Acho’s father, Dr. Sonny Acho, is a practicing doctor based out of Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Acho founded LHCM with a goal in mind to help rural Nigerian communities with medical needs, including the building of a hospital for them to use. Acho’s family, along with other medical professionals involved with LCHM, plan their “Operation Hope” trip every summer to deliver on that promise, providing medical supplies and fundraise for a hospital to be built in those rural communities.

LCHM has already had a fantastic impact on the Nigerian community, teaming up with nurses, doctors, optometrists, and missionaries to provide care to Nigerians. While their goal to fundraise enough money to build a hospital still hasn’t yet been achieved, Acho and LCHM are still working insanely hard to do so. If you want to contribute to this cause, click this link.

Acho isn’t only active overseas, however. He is involved with a lot of local projects as well.

Acho has previously teamed up with United Way as an ambassador for their Character Playbook initiative. Character Playbook is an initiative taken by the NFL in order to teach kids how much character matters.

All 32 NFL teams had an ambassador for this program, and Acho was chosen as the Bears’ selection. Acho videoconferenced with students from across the Chicago Public Schools system, teaching them how having a positive character can impact them on and off the gridiron.

United Way, the charity behind Character Playbook, actively fights for the health and education of people around the world. United Way has actively impacted over 1800 communities in 40 countries. If you would like to contribute to the causes United Way brings to light, please visit this site.

Acho is also heavily involved with the NFL’s Play 60 campaign.

Play 60 is a campaign started by the NFL in order to promote a healthy lifestyle for schoolchildren across the nation. Acho has been an ambassador for the program, appearing at many schools to promote this message. Recently, Acho appeared at John M. Smyth Elementary School in Chicago, where he presented a $10,000 grant to the school for promoting the Play 60 campaign.

You can join the conversation regarding this campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #Play60 and see the impacts all 32 franchises are having in their respective communities.

You can also find pieces highlighting the off-the-field contributions from every team in the league by searching the hashtag #MoreThanFootballFPC.