FOXBORO – As he grew older, it started to click. His skin color was different, a little darker, than the lighter complexion of his parents and older brother. The same went for his hair. That too was different.

"You just kind of realize you don’t look like your parents or your brother," Kyle Van Noy said. "People make comments, but it’s all you know so you don’t know much better at a young age. When you start to understand more and ask more [...]

FOXBORO – As he grew older, it started to click. His skin color was different, a little darker, than the lighter complexion of his parents and older brother. The same went for his hair. That too was different.

“You just kind of realize you don’t look like your parents or your brother,” Kyle Van Noy said. “People make comments, but it’s all you know so you don’t know much better at a young age. When you start to understand more and ask more questions, you get more answers.”

Van Noy was born on March 26, 1991, in Reno, Nev., and placed with LDS Family Services, an adoption agency. By the time he was four months old, he was adopted by Kelly and Layne Van Noy, who also had a 3-year-old biological son, Travis.

Van Noy was raised in a loving home with strong values. He and his brother bonded over athletics. They were so close that neither remember exactly when they learned that Kyle was adopted. It wasn't that big of a deal.

“He’s my brother and he’s my only sibling. I don’t know anything different,” Travis Van Noy said. “If we were older there would’ve been a little bit of a difference. There really wasn’t a time especially with us being so young. He was my new play buddy. We just hung out together and did stuff together. He was my brother. It wasn’t like there was any kind of big change type of thing.”

Being adopted places you in an exclusive club that not many can comprehend. Van Noy admits he can’t remember meeting another child of adoption while growing up. That’s one reason why when Van Noy entered the NFL, he aimed to help those kids who were once in his shoes.

Four years ago, Van Noy and his wife, Marissa, started the Van Noy Valor Foundation, which aims to provide opportunities and encourages "valor" in the lives of adopted children, those in foster care and disadvantaged youth.

Here in New England, the charity has taken off while highlighting the person Van Noy has developed into off the field.

Better to give

The Van Noy family is a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For them, that means serving, loving and helping those who are less fortunate. It was a lesson that started early.

During Christmas time, the Van Noys taught their sons about giving. They showed them it could feel just as good to help others as it was to unwrap presents. The family volunteered at the Salvation Army, where they found families in need during the holidays.

“A couple of years, we would try to find a family that was in need and we would try to find their specific needs, their ages and try to figure out how we could help make their Christmas better,” Travis Van Noy said. “I still do that with my personal family, my kids and have continued that tradition.”

“Always growing up we tried, with the religion that I am and the faith that I am, always gave back,” Kyle Van Noy added. “It didn’t matter how much we had, it was always to give first. We would maybe have a couple presents, but give most of the presents to someone else because they needed it more. That’s how I was raised and that’s who I was around.”

The Van Noy brothers always loved sports. Travis, who's 6-foot-8, played basketball at Southern Virginia and maintains he can still beat Kyle in basketball. While growing up, Kyle often tagged along with his older brother and played sports with his friends. Kyle turned into such a good athlete, he had the chance to be drafted in baseball before settling on football.

Van Noy, however, always wondered what it would’ve been like had he met an athlete like him who had a similar background. It’s part of the reason he started his foundation.

“I feel like it would’ve been a big positive for me if someone that was a celebrity or whatever you want to call it, to be able to help out, give back their time,” Van Noy said. “Like going back to Reno, I started doing that. I felt like I didn’t have that there so I wanted to go back and help out.”

Foundation grows

Van Noy grew leaps and bounds while playing at BYU.

Paul Tidwell, who recruited Van Noy as BYU’s linebacker coach, saw this maturation process firsthand. Before he knew it, he had a player who was not only headed to the NFL, but also showed a passion for giving back.

“One thing about Kyle was, he was very giving with his time. He loved people, loved kids. He would go out of his way to sign autographs," Tidwell said. "He would go out of his way to talk to people. I saw him grow in that area. I’m just really proud of him. I know that he’s doing a lot of good and he’s got a good heart.”

When he entered the NFL in 2014, he started the foundation. His wife made the perfect partner as her father and brother were also adopted. What started out on a small scale has expanded to multiple events each year. This year, he’s bowled with 10 kids in foster care at Patriot Place's Splitsville. In July, Van Noy returned to Reno and took kids from a local foster care agency to a Reno Aces Triple-A baseball game. The special guests also received tickets to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play.

This month, his Patriots teammates teamed up for Van Noy’s celebrity waiter night. The foundation raised money for their Christmas tree giveaway on Dec. 1. The charity will give away 253 Christmas trees, 600 coats, lights, ornaments and Christmas gifts to foster kids. Van Noy says he also hopes to have some kids try to kick field goals in Gillette Stadium. The foundation is also taking foster kids to see the movie, Instant Family, starring Mark Wahlberg which is about adoption.

“It’s great to see and be a part of it,” Travis Van Noy said. “It’s been really cool to see the growth of the foundation from their kind of conceptualizing it and talking about it. The first event, there were only a few people who showed up in Detroit, but now, Boston has just embraced it. It’s been pretty awesome.”

Respect of teammates

Van Noy was traded to the Patriots in the middle of the 2016 season. Over the course of the last three seasons, the linebacker has developed into one of the team's key defensive pieces. His teammates remained impressed with him on the field, but they are truly blown away off it.

During Van Noy’s countless charity events, he has an endless amount of support from the Patriots organization. Every player on this team has hiis own story of personal struggle, but admire Van Noy for putting his own story out there.

“All of us have gone through our own journeys to get here. I think his is a journey that’s a little more unique than some other people,” Jason McCourty said. “The fact that he recognizes that and wants to do for others that are going through the same journey, makes that special.”

“You see a guy like him and he’s in the NFL. He raises money for a cause. It shows you, if you do care and you do give a helping hand like that, it’s what it produces,” Devin McCourty added. “Anytime he has an event, I always want to help out. I think that’s very important. I think we all know people who through tragic things or whatever persons grow up without a mom or a dad or grandparents, like something happens and I think that the work he is doing is incredible.”

For Van Noy, it’s about proving to these kids that second chances can make a difference. He’s able to relate to them unlike a lot of adults can. The 27-year-old is truly making a difference on and off the field.

“A lot of them sometimes get put in situations where it’s just not cool or family situations are messed up,” Van Noy said. “That it’s OK, that it’s your parents choices, it doesn’t mean that it’s your choices. You can choose to do something. I try to encourage them as best as possible.”