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Mississippi State Commit Jalen Mayden Leads a Food Drive, Collects Nearly 700 Pounds of Food for Donation

Mississippi State earned a huge commitment from Jalen Mayden, but he did something far more important recently.

Photo: 247Sports

It was just a few days ago that Mississippi State earned a commitment from a highly touted 4 star quarterback. It seems like just about everybody has covered every angle of the story of the commitment of Jalen Mayden, a 6-2 and 196 pound dual threat star hailing from Sachse, Texas.

He is highly coveted by many universities and Dan Mullen earned a crucial commitment out from Baylor’s backyard and kept him away from the like of Tennessee, Utah, Nebraska, and even Georgia and Ohio State. But that’s not the most important aspect of Mayden’s recruitment or commitment.

Mayden actually did something far more important than just committing to a school, even if it is one that I’m kind of fond of. Mayden used his platform as a way to raise just shy of 700 pounds of food for a local food bank.

You see, Jalen Mayden actually has a charity set up and he’s not even 18 yet. The young football player isn’t old enough to vote, but he’s already doing more to impact his community in a positive way than most ever will.

Mayden’s See Me Beyond charity brought in food donations for the Life Message Center, a non-profit organization based out of Rowlett, Texas that provides a food pantry and clothing center.

And this is far from the first time that Mayden has done this! In December of 2015, before Mayden was swarmed with the recruiting coverage that he has been, he brought in over 1000 pounds of food to be donated.

If we’re doing the math right, that’s somewhere over 1700 pounds of food in these two instances alone. And, he’s likely raised well over a literal ton of food for those in need as it looks like he’s been doing this for just about the entirety of his high school career.

As it turns out, he’s been doing this once a month dating back to his freshman year of high school and it doesn’t look like he intends to stop any time soon. He was even featured on his local news for his selfless acts of giving and service.

So, Jalen, thank you. Not necessarily for picking Mississippi State. I mean, that’s cool and all, but thank you for using your platform to help others. Thank you for seeing a need in your community and doing what you can to address it.