Bears receiver Rome Odunze walked into a small gymnasium at the Lake County Boys & Girls Club Jan. 7 to an eruption of cheers, screams and claps.

While Odunze became accustomed to that type of reception from fans at Soldier Field during his rookie season, receiving that welcome from more than 60 kids just two days after wrapping up his first NFL season was a meaningful moment for him.

What the students didn't know was that Odunze had traveled to Lake County that evening to surprise them with 25 new Microsoft Surface Laptops.

"I had the blessed opportunity to work with Microsoft, the Bears and the Boys & Girls Club to surprise the kids with 25 Microsoft Surface Laptops for their education," Odunze said. "It reminded me of when I was in the Boys & Girls Club growing up and we had guests come through. Those were always special times.

"Being able to socialize and chop it up with them was awesome, just to feel their energy. There's nothing like the excitement of children with something new, something fresh, so that was a good experience."

Odunze took time to hang out with the children in the gymnasium — signing autographs, working on TikTok dances and taking pictures. After the kids dispersed to their classrooms, Odunze stopped by to test out the new laptops and teach them some of his favorite childhood games.

"They were on there playing Cool Math — all the games I was playing as a kid — and now 20 years later, they're still playing them, so that's pretty cool," Odunze said. "So [I] got to surprise them, give them words of wisdom as well as play some games with them, build some LEGOs and different things, so it was a good day."

For Odunze, his visit to the Boys & Girls Club meant more than just surprising the kids. Helping provide them with resources to enhance their education in a fun, hands-on way served as another opportunity to impact the community around him.

Odunze made sure to create special memories for each of the kids he interacted with, from talking to them about playing for the Bears to learning about their interests and schoolwork, to even letting them sign his jersey.

"Being drafted to a special city, such a historic city and having that support from the fans — everyone around supporting my career and me as an individual — means a lot to me," Odunze said. "I try and do anything I can to support the community around me. I've been passionate about sports and children, so I lean a lot toward those things.

"I've had tremendous opportunities with partners of the Bears and the Bears organization as a whole to help me with these opportunities as well to reach out and be able to give back to a community that shows us so much love. That's definitely something I'll be scaling up going forward, but [I'm] happy with the opportunities I was able to do this year."