James Milner: Footballer And Humanitarian

In a week where the world is in desperate need of good stories about good people doing good things, the James Milner Foundation will be hosting its annual charity ball, "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Although the charity pre-dates his time as a Red, he joins other high-profile former Liverpool players such Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard as footballers who also try to make a difference off the pitch.

The ball, set for the day after Liverpool's visit to Manchester City, hopes to raise funds for Bloodwise, Help for Heroes and the NSPCC.

"We are very fortunate to do what we do for a living and get paid well for it," the Liverpool midfielder told Liverpoolfc.com, "You have a certain profile with that and sometimes it's a good thing and other times it's not, but you can use that for the better and that's just something we decided to do. I thought it was a good idea to use that in a positive way and try to do some good and raise money for these charities. We've managed to do that so far and hopefully that can continue."

Milner's charity has indeed been helpful, with last year's event raising £130,000, a record night for the organization. Despite the money raised, Milner recognizes the natural limitations of his charity.

"You get so many requests as well, asking for help from different people and letters and things like that, and it's so difficult to help everybody. The idea was if we had the foundation, we could channel the energy through there and we could say this is what we are doing and helping these three main charities."

Liverpool fans might be split as to Milner's contributions to the club on the pitch, but there's no doubting his heart is in the right place off the pitch.