Minnesota Vikings’ Adam Thielen partners with Hormel to fight children’s hunger

Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has partnered with Hormel Chili to fight childhood hunger.

While Minnesota football fans cheer another victory, many Minnesota children are faced with food insecurities. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen has partnered with Hormel Chili to raise awareness about  childhood hunger issues.

As part of this partnership, they are unveiling a pair of custom cleats designed by sneaker designer Dan Gamache, which will be auctioned off later this year to continue raising funds to fight the issue of Minnesota’s childhood hunger.

The cleats are bright red and yellow, and feature a prominent “1 in 8” message, a reference to the more than 160,000 children throughout the state who do not have enough to eat.

Thielen is a local product who attended Division II school Minnesota State, is in his sixth season with the Vikings after being signed as an undrafted free agent, and has totaled through 4,206 yards and 23 touchdowns on 306 catches through 81 career games.

Hormel has donated 8,000 cans of chili to Second Harvest Heartland, a local food bank covering the Twin Cities areas and southern Minnesota generally.

“Adam’s custom cleats will help raise awareness of hunger in our state, and his on-field play will help feed the more than half a million Minnesotans who face hunger every day,” Allison O’Toole, Second Harvest Heartland CEO, said in a press release.

Hormel is teaming up with Thielen for a season-long “Thursdays with Thielen” campaign, which celebrates the versatility of chili when it comes to team-inspired gameday snacks.

For every yard Thielen gains this season (through seven games he’s currently at 391, according to Pro Football Reference), which has resulted an equal amount of yards of Hormel Chili cans donated to Second Harvest Heartland, which has equaled around 3,100 cans donated or 2,300 meals served.

For more information on Hormel’s “Thursdays with Thielen” campaign, or their charitable efforts, see Hormel’s website.

Due to a pulled hamstring, Thielen will not play in the Vikings’ October 23 Thursday Night Football matchup on Fox against the Washington Redskins.

“While I’m disappointed I won’t be able to take the field with my teammates on Thursday, I’m still very proud to continue my partnership with Hormel Chili,” Thielen said in a press release.

The Vikings are currently 5-2 in the 2019 season, and sit second in the four-team NFC North. They’re coming off a 42-30 road win over their division rivals the Detroit Lions, and riding a three-game winning streak.

For more Minnesota Vikings news within the FanSided Network, be sure to check out our sister sites Sporting Sota and The Viking Age.