Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles is a former Special Olympic athlete so his roots run deep with the organization.

Years removed from competition, Charles is still heavily involved, volunteering his time with Special Olympics athletes.

On Thursday, the Chiefs’ All-Pro running back took it a step further; setting up a GoFundMe account to help the Special Olympics USA Snowshoeing team get to the World Winter Games in Austria in March.

More than 2,700 athletes from over 100 countries will compete in nine sports at the worldwide competition in Graz, Austria March 14-25. Two athletes from Missouri will compete at the World Games. They are: Andrew M Baswell (alpine skiing) and Andrew M. Martinez (snowshoeing).

The goal of Charles’ campaign is to raise $15,000. He jump started the effort personally by donating $100.

Charles was in the third grade when he discovered that he had a learning disability, according to his bio on the crowd sourcing site. He ultimately competed and thrived in track and field as a Special Olympics athlete, the bio stated.

Charles is currently a global ambassador for the organization.