By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
Fans in the Philadelphia Area know well just how important Wawa is to the area’s culture and identity.
While the franchise started out as one that served the Tri-State Area, it continues to expand.
Florida is one of the states that has begun to see more and more locations crop up. It may seem like a random jump, but part of the move so far south can be attributed to the Phillies. With the Phillies’ Spring Training facility in Clearwater, Florida, fans from the Greater Philadelphia Region flocking to the city each spring, Wawa opened a location in town.
The location caught on well and more and more cropped up across the state, with the newest one planned to open in Jacksonville.
While Jacksonville is also the new home of former Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, the city is also the hometown of Eagles great and 2018 Football Hall of Fame inductee Brian Dawkins.
As such, Dawkins will be at the Wawa for the Grand Opening on April 16 and will debut his own hoagie, named “The Dawk”, at the event.
The sandwich is a wheat roll with grilled chicken, spinach, Parmesan cheese, tomato, pickles, sweet peppers and honey mustard. It will only be available at the Jacksonville location (though fans could always make it themselves elsewhere) and proceeds of the hoagie, up to $20,000, will go toward the Jacksonville Police Athletic League’s MobilePAL program.
Unfortunately, it will not be available after June, meaning Eagles fans who head down to Florida for the preseason game the Eagles will play in Jacksonville will still have to make it themselves.
MobilePAL is like a traveling mini-carnival that has made 17 stops and have given 1,419 kids in the Jacksonville Area a positive and impactful experience with law enforcement officers.
Dawkins played in the NFL for 16 seasons (13 of them with the Eagles) and totaled 1131 tackles, 153 defensed passes, 37 interceptions, 26 sacks, 36 forced fumbles and 19 fumble recoveries.
Dawkins became the ninth pure safety to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2018.
