Jason Jenkins believed a football team could hold a city together — not on Sundays, but on all the ordinary days in between. The Dolphins' late Senior Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs built his career on that idea, and four years after his passing, South Florida just spent a month proving him right.
The Miami Dolphins have closed out the fourth annual Football UNITES™ Jason Jenkins Days of Service, a month-long run of volunteer projects across the region. In 2026 alone, more than 650 volunteers turned out for 12 community service projects, reaching nearly 65,000 people across South Florida — and, through disaster-relief aid, communities in Venezuela and Colombia affected by earthquakes.
The numbers tell a story of a lot of hands doing unglamorous, essential work. Volunteers inspected, sorted, and packed more than 112,000 pounds of food and aid, including more than 61,000 meals. They assembled more than 8,000 hygiene kits and family necessity kits. They unloaded roughly 770 bags of mulch at the Rolling Oaks Park community gardens in Miami Gardens, which serve about 960 residents each season, and they planted, gardened, and landscaped at The Light Preparatory Academy, brightening the days of 250 members of that school community. Young athletes got their moment too, through cheer workshops and a youth football combine for nearly 200 kids.
One project carried an extra decade of meaning: the 10th Annual Warrior Moms Baby Shower, hosted with the Miami VA Healthcare System and United Way Miami's MISSION UNITED, welcomed more than 70 local veteran moms. Each received baby essentials — strollers, playpens, car seats, diapers — a hot meal from community restaurant partner Reggae Beets, and $500 in rent or mortgage assistance.
The month culminated on October 30 with a block-party-style celebration at Hard Rock Stadium alongside Heart & Hand Outreach — on what would have been Jenkins's 52nd birthday. Since the Days of Service began in 2023, more than 2,300 volunteers have taken part, touching more than 181,000 lives. That's the legacy: not a plaque, but a standing appointment to show up for your neighbors.
