ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --This offseason, Peyton Manning has donated plenty of his time.
He has spoken at events ranging from the annual Boy Scouts of America sports breakfast to the John Lynch Foundation's Salute the Stars awards luncheon and the University of Virginia's commencement ceremony. He has even thrown passes to elementary school students on surprise visits.
On Wednesday, his PeyBack Foundation donated $1 million.
The funds will be distributed to 153 youth-based organizations in Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana and Tennessee -- the four states Manning has called home.
"The mission and work of the PeyBack Foundation is something we are very passionate about and to be able to continue our growth through increased giving is very rewarding," Manning said in a statement. "This year, we are fortunate to be able to provide our largest donation total of $1 million to youth based community organizations."
Manning is the president of the foundation, which he established in 1999 to promote the future success of disadvantaged youth by assisting programs that provide leadership growth and opportunities for children at risk.
Every year, the public, non-profit corporation distributes funds to agencies and organizations actively advancing the welfare of disadvantaged children. Those organizations complete grant applications to be considered, and they are carefully considered based on each individual agency's unique merits, goals and mission. This year the foundation received 604 applications.
The $1 million allocated to this year's recipients will be divided by state -- $630,000 goes to 81 charities in Colorado, $175,000 to 32 organizations in Tennessee, $120,000 to 23 organizations in Louisiana and $75,000 to Indiana organizations.
Four of the Colorado organizations -- A Precious Child, GreenLeaf, Environmental Learning For Kids and The Colorado "I Have A Dream" Foundation -- benefitting from the foundation's donations will be at Dove Valley for a check presentation after Wednesday's practice.
"With this donation, now collectively throughout the years, we have awarded over $5.6 million in grants to 995 youth organizations in Colorado, Tennessee, Louisiana and Indiana," Manning said.
