LOWELL — Each year, players in the National Football League are given the opportunity to showcase a certain cause or charity on the field through customized artwork on their cleats.

The causes represented by the players can vary greatly. Some use the effort to highlight organizations conducting cancer and other medical research, while others, like Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, support organizations like the Special Olympics of Massachusetts.

One of Maye’s offensive linemen, fellow second-year player Caedan Wallace, chose to support Heading Home, a nonprofit helping those who struggle with homelessness to get emergency shelter as well as transitional and permanent housing. Heading Home now operates a shelter in the former UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, where Caedan visited Tuesday to hand out Christmas gifts to 137 kids living in the shelter.

The offensive lineman visited with the kids and families for about two hours while kids picked out toys from a large pile behind him, all donated from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Fill-A-Bus initiative. He also presented a $3,000 check to Heading Home from his foundation, Caedan Cares.

“I just wanted to give back this holiday season. I really like to help people who may not have as much around this time of year, and make sure everyone feels dignified and like they are having a great time during the holidays,” said Caedan.

He said he chose Heading Home as his cause this year because he believes “it is a right that everybody should have a place to call home.”

“Somewhere they can go home, recharge and prepare to take on the world,” Caedan said.

Caedan and the Patriots were on a bye-week this past weekend, and will next take on the Buffalo Bills in Foxboro Sunday at 1 p.m., in a game with heavy implications for control of the AFC East division. He was drafted by the Patriots in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft. This year he has played in just one game, the Dec. 1 victory against the New York Giants.

Caedan’s father, Dr. Charles Wallace II, is the managing director of Caedan Cares, which he said has a focus on youth and family development.

“It was about giving back to the community. Caedan was very fortunate growing up … My wife did an amazing job working with him, ensuring that education was non-negotiable. He has just carried that through and wants to give back to the community and those who need the resources and help,” said Charles. “This gives us the opportunity to really connect and give back to the community that has given us so much. As a second-year player, Boston and the region and Lowell area have just been really great with welcoming Caedan to the area, and this was just appropriate to give back.”

The former ICC building was previously home to migrant families living in the Greater Lowell area as they went through the immigration system, but those operations ended on June 30, after which the building transitioned into a rapid track and clinical safety-risk assessment center operated by Heading Home.

According to a Sept. 21 memorandum from Assistant City Manager Shawn Machado to City Manager Tom Golden, Heading Home is contracted to run the emergency shelter until June 30, 2026.

Heading Home Chief Operating Officer Heather Martin said the number of housing-insecure families staying in the building can vary throughout the year, but they have the capacity for 125 families.

“It does pick up during the winter. A lot of people who may be somewhat out on the streets, or living with family, may be looking for shelter during the winter,” said Martin.

Martin said Heading Home has been working with Caedan since the beginning of the NFL season after he chose them as his cause, and he has been visiting other Heading Home shelters in eastern Massachusetts.

“It is very meaningful for the families in our shelters,” said Martin. “We’re really excited to be able to give the kids at least this when they are going through such a difficult time right now.”

Nearly half of families entering the shelter system have a family member with a disability, and since May, about 90% of those seeking shelter have been longtime Massachusetts residents.

About 8,000 families are supported by Heading Home annually across 30 communities in eastern Mass.

Since beginning operations in Lowell, Martin said Heading Home has been well-supported by the community.

“The Lowell community has been amazing to work with for services and resources to help the families who come here. We have been very lucky to be here,” said Martin.