2nd & 7

Our mission is to promote reading by providing free books and positive role models to kids in need while encouraging athletes of the community to pay it forward. We do this through our Role Model Reading Program and the Columbus Kids' Book Bank. In 2024, we celebrated our 25th anniversary and gave out our 1,000,000th free book! 2nd & 7 was started in 1999 by three former Ohio State Buckeye football players—Ryan Miller, Luke Fickell, and Mike Vrabel. Inspired by their involvement in various community outreach programs as student-athletes, they decided to continue to make a difference by promoting literacy and providing positive role models for children in central Ohio. Over the past 25 years, the program has grown to 180 communities in 26 states. The “Tackling Illiteracy” program encourages student-athletes from universities and high schools across the nation to participate in weekly readings in second-grade classrooms. While in the classrooms, they are reading to the kids, passing out FREE books for the kids to take home and reminding the kids why it is so important to read. The 2nd & 7 team has created a book series called the Hog Mollies; each book teaches valuable life lessons. In 2024, we will be releasing the 17th book in that series. The Columbus Kids' Book Bank accepts donations of new and gently used K-6 books, sorts them and gets them into the hands of kids who need them the most. Teachers can stock their classroom libraries and families can make sure they have age-appropriate books to encourage reading at home.