Major Caitlin Clark Announcement Boosts Longtime Cause

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated May 8, 2025 11:52 AM ET

A video from back in 2023, when Caitlin Clark was an Iowa Hawkeyes guard whose star was well on the rise, shows Clark and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, hosting a donation drive at a food pantry in the town of Coralville.

In it, Clark explains that addressing food scarcity is an important cause for her, and that it's something she's long sought to address, even before she became a household name.

"I've been doing this since middle school, when I lived back in Des Moines," Clark said. "I always served at the local food pantry, homeless shelter. I just think it is a good way to give back. I don't think people realize food insecurity is such a big problem in our world."

Now that her star power has increased, though, the issue remains at the forefront of her community work. This week, it was announced that the Indiana Fever star and Hy-Vee grocery stores are donating more than $300,000 to Feeding America.

Clark's brother, Blake Clark, represented the Caitlin Clark Foundation at the presentation and said, "Our mission is to uplift and inspire youth through education, nutrition and sport. We want to provide them opportunities in education and sport to be the best that they can be. And we all know, it's hard to show up and be your best self when you're hungry and all you can think about where your next meal is going to be. ...

"Nutrition always needed to be an important pillar alongside those other two, because it helps enable excellence in those other two things."

Clark, meanwhile, is in the midst of training camp with the Fever ahead of the 2025 season, and will play one last preseason game, against the Dream, on Saturday before the season opener on May 17 vs. Chicago.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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