Silk Soymilk announced its newest ambassador this month, Carl Lewis. As a part of the Silk family, Lewis will be a face on its cartons as well as commit to community efforts of his choosing. The former athlete chose to allocate $50,000 towards HBCU athletics.
Coming off high school and college success, Carl Lewis dominated track and field in the 80s and 90s. The International Olympic Committee even dubbed him “Sportsman of the Century.”
In between sprints, relays, and long jumps though, Lewis realized diet was just as important as training. He described to The Knockturnal how he classified his old habits as an eating disorder. Reevaluating his lifestyle at age 28 guided him towards plant-based eating. And Silk’s soymilk thereafter crowned Lewis’ new daily menu. He spent the rest of his career as a vegan, and retired holding world records and having 10 Olympic medals—eight of which are gold.
Today you can find Lewis on the track in a different manner. He coaches collegiate athletes at alma mater University of Houston. Now with a partnership with Silk, Lewis can continue to cultivate the next generation of sports stars’ takeover.
Under his Silk Team Protein initiatives, Silk will grant five track and field programs at historically Black colleges and universities each with a supply of soymilk, a live Q&A with Lewis, and
$10,000. Teams can use the donated funds for uniforms, equipment, transportation, and other needs. The Hall of Famer said that it was important to support HBCUs specifically because of the lack of funding compared to other schools. He hopes his efforts will also support the growing number of vegans in the African-American community.
Anyone–students, coaches, fans, and alike—can nominate an HBCU to receive the funding. To submit your vote, visit SilkTeamProtein.com. No purchase required.