Image courtesy of @hunterhenry Instagram

FOXBOROUGH – Earlier this week, Hunter Henry, his wife Parker and former BC star Mark Herzlich held the second annual “Freedom to Play” ping pong tournament, with over $220k raised for the International Justice Mission.

IJM’s mission is to end human trafficking and modern slavery.

The Henry’s and Herzlich’s have become good friends and have done a number of things for the community, including spending time at Boston College and the BC Athletes In Action group, a Christian Life group at the school for student athletes.

For his efforts, on Friday, Henry was officially named the NFLPA Week 6 Community MVP. The NFLPA donated $10,000 to the organization in his honor.

On Wednesday, I spoke with Henry about the event and why he feels so compelled to try to help IJM.

“Human trafficking and sexual exploitation is happening. It’s a real issue. it’s happening domestically, but it’s also happening a lot obviously internationally. It’s an issue that’s real, man,” Henry said. “A lot of people will kind of like, try to silence it and keep it quiet, but we need to talk about it more. I think that’s the main issue, is just trying to spread awareness.

“The other night, we were able to raise some money that will go a long way. Honestly, a little overseas to us goes a long way over there.”

The relationship between the Herzlichs and Henry’s has ultimately been one built on faith, family and general life similarities, turning into quite a special bond over time.

“We’ve just built a great friendship,” said Henry. “Those are people we really look up to as a couple and just as friends. Honestly, just doing life together has been a pleasure. They’re like, just a step ahead of us in life. Kids are just slightly older than ours. obviously, we have the similarities of playing and going through all that.

“So, understanding our side of it too is special and (Mark) does a lot of great work with IJM too, which is cool. Really, it’s been special to have that friendship with them. They’re close friends and people we really care about.”