Nate Solder
OFFENSIVE TACKLE
NEW YORK GIANTS
Nate Solder and his wife Lexi have taken their desire to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus and directly invested in the lives of children overseas experiencing poverty through Compassion International, the faith-based nonprofit centered on holistic child development. In 2019, Nate and Lexi made a financial contribution to start eleven new child development centers through local churches in Thailand, Uganda and Burkina Faso that will directly serve over 1,650 children in some of the poorest communities of the world. Through these church centers, children and their families will receive Christ's love through medical care, nutritious meals, educational services, as well as spiritual and social support. In addition to funding these programs, the Solders also directly sponsor five children through Compassion International. Nate and Lexi travelled to Uganda and Guatemala this off-season on separate trips to visit Compassion's program sites and spend time with the communities that they serve. Nate is the 2019 ambassador for the "Heart of a Giant" program, through which the Giants, USA Football and Hospital for Special Surgery recognize the most inspiring high school football player in NY, northern NJ and southern CT. He also visited the Make-a-Wish of New Jersey Castle to help children announce the Giants' 2019 draft picks live on NFL Network, and served as the host for a two-day community health expo at MetLife Stadium that provided free family activities, health screenings and information for attendees.
Nate and Lexi have been long-time supporters of several vital organizations in Boston. They are regular visitors and fundraisers for The Jimmy Fund Clinic at Boston Children's Hospital, which have been integral to the care and treatment of their son Hudson over the past four years, after he was diagnosed with a rare Wilms tumor in both kidneys at 3-months old. They have also been constant supporters and committee members of the Joe Andruzzi Foundation and started the Hudson Solder "Tough Like My Dad Fund," raising over $70,000 to help offset living expenses that insurance doesn't cover for other families who are battling cancer. Nate was also a founding board member and has passionately served the non-profit Fresh Truck for the past 7 years. The mission of Fresh Truck is to improve the health outcomes of low-income communities by revitalizing neighborhood food culture and getting healthy food to Boston families who live in "food deserts." They do this by operating three converted school buses as mobile markets that offer more than 30 fresh fruits and vegetables across 18 weekly community locations. Nate helps coach an annual youth football clinic in his hometown of Buena Vista, Colorado, and has served as a constant community ambassador for the New York Giants since joining the team in the Spring of 2018. Immediately after joining the team in 2018, he partnered with several teammates to travel with Americares to Puerto Rico on a 3-day trip to deliver aid and medical supplies to rural areas still recovering from Hurricane Maria. He and his fellow offensive linemen hosted a group of children from local group homes for a holiday visit to the Giants practice facility for a pizza party where they were surprised with gifts from the players. He has twice joined with fellow offensive lineman to participate in the Giants' annual firehouse visit to commemorate September 11th. For his constant efforts in the community and excellence on the field, he was previously honored as the 2017 Patriots' Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
A testicular cancer survivor himself and the father of a little boy who has lived with rare tumors for the past five years, Nate, and his wife Lexi have had their fair share of difficult days. But their positive attitudes and concern for others are the defining traits of their character. Upon being made the highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL in 2018, Nate shared his mindset of using it to give back during his introductory press conference: "I think it's a shame on me if the money only helps the Solder family," he said. "My belief is that this money has been entrusted to me not for the personal comfort and security, but for an actual impact that we can have on our community and the people around us. "But by God's grace if we joyfully look forward to the momentary impact for the New York Giants, a lifetime of impact on our communities and an eternal impact for the kingdom of God, me and my family could not be more thankful and excited, so it's just a great time. Like you said, no, I couldn't have ever expected this, but we believe that it's God's wishes, not ours, to make the impact in our communities — for the kingdom, for people that are less fortunate for us. It's nothing about us having a bigger house, a nicer car, anything like that. So like I said, shame on me if it's just about us."
