BARTOW, Fla. - When you give back, sometimes you’ve got to pick up.

Freddie Stevenson threw a back to school bash and there were some leftovers from the party. This former Bartow High School football star was overwhelmed by the turnout.

“Over 400 people cycling in all day. It was crazy,” he said.

“We wanted to give back to the community. We know what it’s like to struggle so with our platform, we wanted to do something to give back.”

Bags filled with everything a kid would need to start school were handed out, along with a heavy dose of hope.

“Someone’s grandma that walked up to me. She walked up to me and she’s pouring down the tears saying you don’t know what you did for our kids,” Stevenson said. “They’re going to remember you forever. You could tell she was struggling and I know how it is.”

The struggle was real for Freddie growing up, so he took out his frustrations on the football field. At Bartow, Freddie played linebacker and was a star on the Yellow Jackets defense.

At Florida State, he switched to fullback and blocked for the record-setting Dalvin Cook. After college, he signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears and then played for the defunct Orlando Apollos. His nomad football career mirrored his upbringing.

“When we were younger, we were homeless, moving around from place to place,” he said.

Freddie had football strength, but it was nothing compared to the strong bond he held with his family. Family was the focus of his back to school initiative and when one of his sponsors McDonald's reached out with a donation, it brought Freddie back to a time when family was all he had.

“My mother, she takes us to McDonald's one day,” he said. “There’s five kids and she orders a cheeseburger. The total comes out to a a dollar and five cents and my mom only has a dollar to her name. And my mom had to go around McDonald's and beg for a nickel.”

Freddie’s mom divided that cheeseburger between her five kids and went without. That’s why this is so  much more than a burger. This is Freddie’s source of inspiration.

“Anytime I wanted to give up, I just thought about my mother, what she sacrificed,” Stevenson said. “She never gave up when she had every reason to. If I let up then I was letting her down and I couldn’t do that.”

Freddie’s football career ended, but it springboarded his charity work. He traded in touchdowns for touching people’s lives.

“I’m more excited about this next chapter than I was with ball.”

That’s because Freddie gets to spread his message of hope.

“Just telling them to to give up, continue to keep pushing.,” he said. “I know its hard. I know you can’t understand why you’re going through what you’re going through. But I promise you, it’s crazy thinking about it now.

"Life really comes full circle at times. And I know it’s just the beginning.”