On Sunday, a few players from the Banners were given a tour of the Ravens facility before joining Acton on the field before kickoff.
"After we were on the field, everybody asked to get a selfie with us," Acton told NHL.com. "It was a special position. The Ravens were really great. [Ravens general manager Eric] DeCosta was meeting with our guys and asked how he could help us."
Acton said DeCosta told them he would make a $25,000 donation.
"Our normal yearly budget used to be in the range of $30,000 to $40,000," Acton said. "There are a lot of volunteers and we receive donated equipment, so there's not a whole lot of expenses. Everything we get, we spend on the kids."
Acton said winning the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award had a "snowball effect" on TenderBridge. The amount of recognition and number of donations increased tremendously. The nonprofit also received a grant from the city of Baltimore for $150,000 over three years, Acton said.
"Our normal budget would be around $35,000 for the year. We're close to four times that this year," he said. "The $25,000 [that comes with the] Willie O'Ree award was a big chunk of that, but there's been more donations and organizations that want to be involved."
In the past, Acton never worried about money, saying the organization always seemed to "have enough." Now, at age 79, he's focused on deligating tasks and responsibilities within the organization so TenderBridge can operate for another 20 years.
And 20 after that.
