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Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott strengthens Salvation Army involvement with $50K holiday donation

The contribution will support the Angel Tree program, which provides gifts for nearly 40,000 North Texans.

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott walked a large warehouse floor Wednesday evening and scanned some of the many, many thousands of donated clothing items and toys stocked inside the Salvation Army Christmas and Disaster Center in Dallas.

He appreciated the operation’s scale.

“Wow,” Elliott said.

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He then contributed to expand it.

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Elliott and Dallas-based business partner Nick Sunderman presented a $50,000 check to the Salvation Army of North Texas. Organization officials said that the donation will be applied toward the Angel Tree program, a holiday fundraiser that will supply gifts for nearly 40,000 children, adults with special needs, and seniors in North Texas.

Recipients are called “angels.”

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There was a 20% increase in the number of angels this year, and about 2,000 of them still need to be adopted by community members, said Dawn McFarland, a Salvation Army major at the chapter.

She credited Elliott for his involvement with the Salvation Army. Beginning in 2016, he has raised awareness by occasionally leaping into a red-kettle bucket at AT&T Stadium following a touchdown.

He did so again Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

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“This is phenomenal,” McFarland said of the donation. “The attention that it brings will have more angels adopted. More people will think and drop money in the kettle, and that helps us year-round, what goes into the kettle. When he jumps into the kettle, people write us checks. It’s unbelievable. I don’t think he could have imagined in 2016 the ripple effect of this.”

More than 400 people within the Cowboys organization, including players, coaches and other staffers, adopted at least one Angel Tree participant. The rookie class then loaded donated supplies onto a truck Wednesday afternoon, and those items were transported to the warehouse.

Donors know the recipient’s first name, age, item of desire, item of need and clothing sizes.

Elliott hasn’t received a fine letter from the NFL for his celebration Sunday, “but it’s probably coming,” he said. Four Cowboys tight ends were fined the previous week for celebrating in a red kettle.

“It’s definitely worth it,” Elliott said. “It’s definitely worth the awareness we bring to the Salvation Army.”

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