LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Super Bowl is the biggest sports event of the year in America, but it’s proving to be more than just that in Las Vegas.
The big game brings people from all over the world to a new city every year and creates an opportunity for different organizations to get out into the community and reach out to the large Super Bowl crowds.
While hundreds of thousands of football fans are coming to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, thousands of other people are here to reach out to those fans. That includes 6,000 credentialed members of the media from around the globe.
This week, around Allegiant Stadium, up and down the Strip and at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign, 1,000 Jehovah’s Witness volunteers are taking to the streets to spread their message.
Standing next to what looks like lit-up magazine racks, Michael Federico and his wife Tanya spend hours on the Strip. FOX5 caught up with them just north of the Bellagio Fountains after a rainstorm moved through.
“We are pretty excited. We have a large group of volunteers. It’s our largest group yet,” shared Michael.
“We wanted to really make a special effort being able to share our message of hope and positivity,” explained Tanya. Since pandemic restrictions were lifted in 2022, Jehovah’s Witnesses have had small teams of volunteers with “Bible carts” on the Strip. The Federicos usually volunteer once or twice a week, but this week, with so many fans in town, they are part of the massive team of volunteers including those who sign ASL, as well as speak Spanish, Tagalog, and French, working at 50 different locations.
“We met people from all over the world. They chat with us. They say ‘hi,’ to us and express their appreciation for what we are doing,” Tanya revealed.
“That just warms our hearts. Makes us feel like what we’re doing is really worth the effort,” Michael contended. They talk to visitors coming and going from daily Super Bowl events. The volunteers work for 12 hours straight, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., volunteering their time, telling people about what they do, and why they do it.
“We are not going to chase them down. We are not going to try to force it down their throats but just them just come on their own,” Tanya asserted.
“We get to express our love. Love for our fellow man,” said Michael. For the volunteers, this is their Super Bowl too, a chance to reach out to an unprecedented number of people as the biggest game in American sports takes over Las Vegas.
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