Almost every girl on this campus knows what ABC‘s The Bachelor is. Every Monday night, I can almost guarantee the lobby and basement of your building will have all the female residents huddled around the flat screen tv with their pajamas on. Three seasons ago, Colton Underwood became the bachelor at 26 years old. After playing tight end at Illinois State, he was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2014. In hopes to find love, Underwood hoped that his virginity would not get in his way when trying to find a wife.
Underwood was the only virgin bachelor to ever be on the show, making him an attractive option for many attention derived, simple girls. Not only did he make the season unforgettable, but Underwood was able to find love, even if it did not end up in a proposal.
You may be asking why I gave you so much information about a show you may have never watched, but football and the bachelor is not all there is to Colton Underwood.
The Colton Underwood Legacy Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that supports people living with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a disease the affects the lungs and respiratory system by causing a build-up of mucus that clogs the lungs. He started this foundation with his platform in regards to his younger cousin, Harper, who was born with cystic fibrosis. With funds from Underwood’s foundation, people with this disease are given vests that basically shake the mucus off the lungs. These vests can be life-saving as patients may have to use them several times a day and even in the middle of the night.
In 2018, 16-year-old patient Ali traveled to Children’s Hospital Colorado thinking they were helping Underwood choose the next recipient of the AffloVest.
Little did she or her parents know, she was the recipient. Underwood had chosen Ali to receive the vest because of her passion to dance at the Denver School of the Arts. Her positive attitude is what stood out to Underwood as he happily granted her the life-changing vest.
Colton Underwood is more than just a past bachelor. He is more than just an ex-pro football player. He is more than his fame and Instagram posts. Underwood started this nonfit himself with no clear goal of how huge the foundation would become and how many lives it would save. As he has touched many lives with his love story, he has touched so many more through his nonprofit foundation. Underwood is truly making a difference across the United States, doing something that is so good and could only have been made possible with his social platform.