PORT AU PRINCE -- When he's not playing football, David Nelson chooses to spend his free time serving children in Haiti.
Just this month, the 27-year-old NFL player from Texas was nominated for the Most Valuable Sports Philanthropists of the year.
KENS 5's Sarah Forgany met Nelson in Haiti where she witnessed first-hand his life-changing work, and through the lens of a camera, a story that captures the heart.
Simple moments like an impromptu soccer or football game can make a child feel worthy.
The Haitian children Nelson serves come to him with big dreams, dreams he once had as a child.
When you re here, you feel so free, Nelson said.
The passion of the Jets player soars beyond the football field. There s no limits, Nelson said. No boundaries. No boundaries, ironically, in a country shackled by poverty, disease, and abandonment.
A devastating earthquake four years ago made life even harder, and surrounded by broken homes, Nelson can see what others don't.
You look around the sky and the kites are soaring, Nelson said. Its symbolic perspective. That s what these kids want to be. They want to be free and be able to fly and chase their dreams.
With the help of his younger brother's Patrick and Daniel, Nelson co-founded i'm ME, a home of hope for the hopeless.
Moms will come to our door, orphanage doors and say, 'I love my kids but I don t know how to take care of a family or to work or manage money.' They don t have any other option but to give their kid away, David Nelson said.
Baby Julie and her siblings were spared that fate. Now they, along with their parents, are part of the i'm ME family.
We want to create after school programs, sports complexes, orphanages, all in the minds of activating their creativity, Patrick Nelson said.
Just three hours up the mountains from Port Au Prince, something as simple as drinking water is scarce.
There is a need for an awakening, David Nelson said. I m saying there is a need for Americans to come and to see how the Haitians are living in the midst of circumstances of poverty and oppression.
David, Patrick and Daniel consider Haiti a second home.
The brothers travel there several times a month and are now focusing on building a $3 Million sports complex.
It'll be the first of it's kind in Haiti, aiming to provide educational, athletic and vocational programs.
To learn more about i'm ME, visittheir website.
For more information on SOLT Kobonal Haiti Mission, click here.
