Currently a board member of the Kings Care Foundation and the Kings Alumni Association, Jim Fox has proudly been a part of the Kings Care Foundation since day one and even played a role in starting it up.

“Before the days of Wayne Gretzky, we were a small team trying to find our way in a big city,” explained Fox. “I was sitting around with Phil Sykes in the locker room before practice one morning and we started talking about a charity golf event and us hosting one like the other teams in the league,” he added. “It wasn’t so much a ‘let’s give back thing’, it was more so a ‘let’s do what the other teams are doing and not take a back seat to them’ thing.”

“When I got injured and had to retire, I went directly from playing to the Community Relations department so that made it a little bit more hands-on for me so I could try and get not only the players involved, but their wives and families as well,” articulated Fox.

Twenty-two years ago it was nearly impossible for the Kings to compete in the same market with Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers and the much-hyped Oakland Raiders, who at the time were in the middle of the hype that N.W.A. brought to the team, proudly representing the black and silver wherever they went. Now, the Kings Care Foundation have received many awards for the work that they do within the community and the things that they do for their fans.

“It’s certainly something that I’m proud of, I will admit that,” declared Fox. “There was a lot of learning, a lot of hard work and a lot of obstacles, but nothing good comes easy. To be involved with the group from the beginning is something that I’m glad to be a part of.”

“Unfortunately my hockey career didn’t take off the way I wanted it to and the team didn’t necessarily have a lot of success, so I look back and consider the Kings Care Foundation as the place where I’ve helped the team the most and I will always remember that and hope to always be a part of it,” added the Coniston, Ontario native.

“It’s one of the top priorities in my life and it always has been. I’m not as hands-on as I used to be but that’s only because they have a full-time staff for that now, so that really shows the growth of it,” concluded the three-time Southern California Sports Broadcasters Sports TV Color Analyst Award winner.

One of the programs that the Kings Care Foundation has to offer to the community is their youth hockey camp, Kings Camp. Depending on what current players are in town at the time, they show up one of the days to assist Kings Alumni in helping to teach the kids some of the basics of hockey throughout the week that they are there. With hockey becoming more and more popular year after year in Los Angeles, the Kings do their best to help teach the kids about teamwork and leadership, on top of basic hockey skills.

“My favourite program is the Kings Camp that we have every summer because it’s gone through a lot of different stages from when it first started, as well as the state of youth hockey in Los Angeles in general,” stated Fox. “Before we had kids coming who were learning to skate and it’s still like that, a little bit, but now it is more so kids coming out looking to improve. The type of player that you are doesn’t matter though, because we’re just trying to introduce you to hockey because it’s a way to learn a lot of lessons in life and a way to stay fit.”

“It definitely has the most direct impact on the community,” he added. “I remember at another fundraiser called Tip-A-King, a gentleman in a Kings jersey came up to me and told me that he went to the very first Kings Camp in 1990 and now his son was involved in it and because of the Kings Camp we got to introduce a father to hockey who introduced his kid to it,” explained this year’s Southern California Sports Broadcasters Sports TV Pre-and-Post Game Show Award winner.

Despite having his career cut short to just nine seasons in the NHL, Jim Fox played every game in a Kings uniform and currently sits eighth on the Kings’ all-time scoring list with 479 points in 578 games; eighth in assists with 293; and ninth in goals with 186. He believes that he was just in the right place at the right time for the Kings Care Foundation but he embraces every single moment of it. He could have retired and left the team behind, but instead he stuck around and tried to do whatever it took to get the team involved with the community and the community to fall in love with the team.

“What comes to mind for me is the first time I got to meet Tim Leiweke who is the head of AEG who owns the Kings and the Staples Centre. I was working in Community Relations at the time and he said to me; ‘we’re going to work hard on the community and you know why? Because we should,’ and that’s all I had to hear and I will never forget that because when he said that, he made me feel like it was good to have someone who felt the exact same way that I did,” mentioned Fox.

“As professional athletes we are put into a position to help people more than other people can, as well as helping to expose certain things, so we have to do it. You don’t choose to be a role model, you are chosen.  Since you’re chosen, it’s good to give back as much as possible. No one’s perfect and everyone makes mistakes but kids choose you because you’re an athlete so every once in a while you try and give some thought to that and try to give back whenever you can.”

To learn more about the Kings Care Foundation and everything the Los Angeles Kings are up to within the community, visit http://kings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=41362

“I love serving the players and assisting them and helping them and their families achieve some of their current and future goals,” said the 7th overall pick in the 1992 NFL Draft.

His current role with the league is to engage and enable players to be better citizens and lifelong learners while pursuing continuous improvement in family relations, social interactions, personal growth and career development.

“When I see a young man come in during his infant stages, not knowing much of anything, wide-eyed and basically blind to the real world, watching him and his family mature and grow is very rewarding,” said the Trenton, New Jersey native. “Watching a player go from a single man with no kids, to a married man with kids and now all of a sudden a leader in the locker room and proactive amongst the community, it’s very rewarding for us to watch them grow and that’s what it’s all about,” added Vincent.

Aside from his job in the NFL, Troy Vincent is still very active within the community with Love Thy Neighbor Community Development & Opportunity Corporation; formally known as the Troy Vincent Foundation which he started with his wife, as they focus on improving the community and strive to build thriving neighbourhoods by creating opportunities for a positive social and economic change.

Love Thy Neighbor offers many different programs relating to education, athletics, family and leadership, as well as offering youth scholarships. One of the many programs that Vincent feels has been the most influential program on the children involved in it is Seed, Feed and Grow; an elementary enrichment program that encourages children to imagine, dream and explore while learning and establishing a love for their education.

“Seed, Feed and Grow is our program that introduces first time students to school supplies and gives them the opportunity to work with volunteers who come and assist these young men and women with their science skills,” explained Vincent. “It’s so satisfying to see these young men and women get the right supplies to become an effective student,” added Vincent.

While he believes that the Seed, Feed and Grow program has had a positive impact on the youth and the community, Vincent’s personal favourite program they have to offer is the Love Thy Neighbor College Bound program. This program teaches students interested in attending college academic reinforcement, leadership development, civic responsibility, recruiting education and brings them to colleges during the summer months to see the campus first-hand, speak to academic advisors, visit the student affairs department and get a chance to get out of their normal comfort zone and see other parts of the country.

“I love it because it’s mainly young men who have never left their local communities but have aspirations of going to college, they just don’t know where, so we help expose them to the campus life,” expressed the five-time Pro Bowler. “We get a chance to eat and teach them proper table etiquette as well as how to travel and personal hygiene,” he added. “Once a young man gets off the bus, he all of a sudden just got better just from going from point A to point B.”

Even though giving back to the community was something that Troy Vincent always saw himself doing regardless of what he was doing for a living, he feels that playing for the Philadelphia Eagles for eight seasons helped play a major part in where he is today and everything that he is doing.

“Playing in Philly played a major part. The success of the team on the field helped off the field because with success comes a lot of responsibility and how we the athlete or individual use that success, a lot of the time determines where we go and where we end up,” said the three-time All-Pro selection.

“It allowed me to extend what me and my wife were doing in Mercer County and Lower Buck County where I spent a good portion of my life,” explained Vincent. “Philadelphia was home to me and the people there meant a lot to me. There were a lot of folks in Delaware Valley, New Jersey and Mercer County area that really played a critical part in my development as a young man, professional and post-playing career,” he added.

If you want to know what type of player Troy Vincent was, his list of awards and honours from the 2002 season says it all. This list includes the Byron ‘Whizzer’ White Award; Humanitarian of the Year Award; NFL Walter Payton ‘Man of the Year’; and he was named the Sporting News #1 Good Guy in All of Professional Sports.

“My family and I don’t do things for awards or accolades, we do things because we believe that they are the right thing to do. Those are all just byproducts to a life of service,” stated Vincent. “We take them with a humble heart and are very appreciative that someone recognizes our work, but we don’t do it for the popularity,” he concluded.

Troy Vincent was blessed enough to play 15 seasons in the National Football League. He never took any moment for granted and cherishes every moment he has because he understands that you need to live for today and not wait for tomorrow because tomorrow is never promised. He was a voice for the players while he was an active player in the league and although he doesn’t take the field every week anymore, Troy Vincent remains one of the most respected men in the league today as he works hard day after day to open the doors for the youth and help show them the ropes to having a successful playing and post-playing career.

To learn more about Troy Vincent and Love Thy Neighbor, visit http://www.troyvincent.com/