Fans took solace in remembering McNair's constant involvement in communities in his home state of Mississippi and in Tennessee. But his foundation no longer has his financial backing as his family goes to court to settle his estate, which includes business dealings and real estate holdings in two states.
Don Weatherall, who helped McNair operate the foundation, said it's too soon to say whether the charity can continue with work that ranged from helping at-risk teens and Boys and Girls Clubs to providing for families devastated by natural disaster.
Weatherall said he hopes the foundation will continue with the help of family members who had always been involved.
"(The camps) were always a nice time for the McNair family to get together," he said. "Mechelle would be helping out in the cafeteria, and his brother Fred ran all the camps. It was a family event."
Police say McNair's mistress, Sahel Kazemi, 20, shot him to death at his condo July 4 before killing herself.
Weatherall said McNair started holding a football camp in Mississippi in 1999, but it wasn't until 2001 that the Steve McNair Foundation was created and started to expand. More than 8,000 kids have come through the three camps each summer in recent years, he said.
The camp charged a fee, though at least 70 percent of the kids were sponsored by the foundation and attended for free, Weatherall said.
According to 2007 financial reports, the Hattiesburg, Miss.-based foundation raised more than $709,000 between 2003 and 2006.
During 2007, the foundation spent $99,000 on football camps for high school students and at-risk children in Tennessee and Mississippi. An additional $37,000 was spent on Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
In 2005, McNair teamed up with Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre and filled a tractor-trailer with relief supplies bound for Mississippi. Later that year, Titans fans showed up in droves at the stadium, eventually filling 20 tractor-trailers and donating at least $80,000.
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