You might have seen Eagles players wear the T-shirts before Saturday's preseason game against the Browns.

"A Fan of Change."

What is it? What does it mean?

On Monday, the Eagles announced the launch of the initiatives designed to highlight the dedication of community members and players who are channeling their energy to cultivate change in our region, while inspiring fans to find ways to make a difference, whether it's through financial donations or volunteer efforts.

In 2018, the Eagles Social Justice Fund was established as a collaborative effort between the players and the team to break down the barriers to opportunity through education, enhancing community/police relations, improving the criminal justice system, and other initiatives that are focused on poverty, racial equality, and workforce development. To date, because of the Eagles' commitment, more than $2.6 million has been donated to organizations on the front line every day.

As the crisis of gun violence escalated in Philadelphia, the Eagles sharpened their focus, directing resources to this urgent matter. Recognizing that impact requires more than funding, the A Fan of Change initiative and EndPhillyGunViolence.com were created to build a movement and rally the entire community. The A Fan of Change campaign is rooted in achieving success in four main areas – these pillars were featured on the back of the player T-shirts on Saturday.

1. Be A Fan of Youth Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles are committed to reducing barriers to entry to the game of football, especially for girls! The Eagles launched Pennsylvania's first girls flag football league, in partnership with Gatorade, The Bellwether District, and Planet Fitness, in 2022 with 16 teams from the Philadelphia Public and Catholic Leagues. Today, girls flag football is a state-sanctioned high school sport in the state with more than 130 teams participating in the Philadelphia region and South Jersey.

"Just go for it. You never know how far it could take you. You never know who's watching. You never know how good you could be at something until you really put yourself in that position to do well and actually play whatever sport or whatever you want to do," said Maya Johnson, who led Abington High School to the championship in 2023 and was named the first player to ever be nominated by the Eagles for the Maxwell Football Club's Girls Flag Football Player of the Year.

The Eagles' support for girls in sports extends beyond the league they have created, as proper equipment is essential for a path to successful women's sports. The Eagles have made an effort to ensure that every girl in Philadelphia who needs a sports bra receives one through the FLY:FWD program, thanks to a partnership with Operation Warm.

The Eagles have also worked closely with Leveling the Playing Field, a nonprofit that provides equipment to youth organizations in need. Leveling the Playing Field supported nearly 300 sports teams and organizations with more than $1 million in equipment in 2024 in the Philadelphia area alone.

2. Be a Fan of Violence Prevention

The Center for Violence Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) started in 2013 in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, providing intensive programs for families who have gone through any sort of violent experiences, including gun violence.

"We have a robust gun safety program which encourages our clinical staff to have non-judgmental conversations with families about guns, either in their home or in homes where their children may visit. And we offer education as well as free gun locking devices, so gun locks and gun safes, completely free of charge, just to promote the safest home for a child as a home without a gun," Associate Director of Communications for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and Center for Violence Prevention at CHOP Lindsey Mitros said.

"Our whole center is built on the principle of community-based, participatory research. We're bringing in the voices of the community and working alongside them to make sure everything we're doing is going to be well received."

CHOP aims to help families know that they have resources and ways to prevent traumatic incidents from happening. And if they do, CHOP is there to help them on the road to recovery.

"At CHOP, the goal of pediatrics is to raise kids to be healthy adults. And when we think about health, you have to think about violence as a public health issue, really, alongside any other clinical issue that a child may be facing coming into CHOP. We really want to think about violence in the same lens. And so, we're always thinking about a prevention model, and how can we prevent these things from happening," Mitros said.

"We've been so fortunate to partner with the Eagles, and I think the Eagles have been so generous in using their platform and their incredible fan base to really help shine a light on gun violence prevention. Gun violence is the number one cause of death for children in this country. It has surpassed motor vehicle crashes, which for years, was the number one cause of death. And so, it is a huge concern. It is a huge community concern. It is a multi-faceted public health challenge, and it will take a community effort to see positive change."

3. Be a Fan of Mental Health

"The one thing that gives me hope is that many organizations are out here doing the work," says Reuben Jones, a community activist and social justice advocate who is the executive director of Frontline Dads, a nonprofit that facilitates the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and cultural development of Black men and at-risk youth. "I don't know what the city would look like if those organizations weren't doing this kind of work.

"I think we got to work hard to get people the help they need. I'm talking specifically about mental health treatment, identifying some of the behaviors at an early stage, and then support them. The Black community has not embraced mental health the way we should," Jones added. "Meanwhile, you're struggling with all these demons; you're struggling with self-esteem issues; you're suffering from all these psychological impacts of the trauma you've dealt with since childhood. If you aren't getting help for that, it's going to boil over at some point and land on someone else's lap."

Frontline Dads works directly with several schools in Philadelphia. At one visit to the Science Leadership Academy based in Center City, Jones surveyed the students and learned that nearly 90 percent knew someone who had perished due to gun violence. The survivors are often victims without physical scarring.

"I think we have to stand collectively as a community and as a city and really think-tank this out and figure out what will work in this neighborhood, what will work for this demographic, and really be laser-focused and strategic and address this issue because it isn't a new phenomenon for Philadelphia," Jones said.

4. Be a Fan of Mentoring

"Not many leaders are coming back and grabbing these children, especially around my age," said Garry Mills, who founded Shoot Basketball NOT People, one of the nine nonprofits that received a Social Justice grant from the Eagles last season.

"I wanted to make sure that I was one of those leaders with old-school values, but just a new-school outlook."

One of the most decorated Philadelphia high school players in the city's illustrious history, Mills was a first-team All-Public League selection at Lincoln High and is a member of the school's All-Time Team. He returned to Philadelphia while attending college at Virginia State after the 2003 passing of his grandfather, community activist Frederick Caliman, who had been a father figure to him. Mills wants to open a gym for SBNP and name it after his grandfather.

The Eagles didn't just cut Mills a check to aid him with his mission. They've continued to follow up and provide resources and opportunities to network and host events together. The exposure from the Eagles Social Justice Fund has provided SBNP with the following:

• 42% uptick in volunteer interest with new volunteers from corporate, collegiate, and local community organizations

• 35% increase in youth retention rate (123 new youth joined from historically underserved neighborhoods in North and Upper Northwest Philadelphia). More than 2,500 youth have been involved in SBNP programming.

• 36% increase in open rates for newsletters

• 18% increase in click-through rates for emails tied to program sign-ups and community events

• 43% increase in monthly web traffic

• 27% growth in Instagram followers

"Just the way that the Eagles nurtured this relationship, again, I'm forever grateful for that," Mills said.

These are just a few of the organizations that need your help in transforming the City of Philadelphia. No matter who you are a fan of on the field, everyone can be A Fan of Change.