Joe Andruzzi Foundation has now raised over $7 million since its start in 2008

Former New England Patriots offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi last played in the NFL during the 2006 season, but he has not lived a quiet life since then. The three-time world champion, who appeared in 81 games for the team between 2000 and 2004, is busy doing good through his Joe Andruzzi Foundation by providing monetary support to cancer patients and their families and “helping them focus on recovery — instead of bills”.

The foundation was started by Andruzzi and his wife Jen, who is serving as its CEO and president, following a medical scare in 2007: Andruzzi was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Burkitt’s lymphoma, which ended his active career in pro football and forced him to undergo treatment until successfully defeating the illness one year later. What followed was the initiation of the Joe Andruzzi Foundation and plenty of lives being positively impacted.

After all, the foundation has raised not just thousands but millions of dollars since it was established 12 years ago: just last month it surpassed $7 million in donations, according to a report by the Boston Herald’s Alexi Cohan, thus successfully fulfilling its mission statement of “providing help, hope, and a reason to smile, for New England cancer patients and their families by contributing financial support when it is needed most.”

The foundation was able to reach that milestone through a network of more than 20,000 supporters as well as multiple events, including two that take place annually: the Joe Andruzzi & Friends Golf Tournament and the Gratitude Gala. Together with other fundraisers — the next of which taking place on March 12 at Dan Koppen’s LineSider Brewing Co. in East Greenwich RI — it has been able to change lives all over New England.

For more information about the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, please make sure to visit joeandruzzifoundation.org. If you want to donate and participate in the fight against cancer, please follow this link.