Thanks to NFL star Je'Rod LePatrick Cherry, and his willingness to part with his most sentimental Super Bowl ring, two dozens orphans in Thailand are on their way to a better life.

Cherry raffled off his first Super Bowl ring, won with the New England Patriots in 2002. The raffle raised $200,000 for charities of Cherry's choosing.

One of those charities, Asia Hope, which builds orphanages in Thailand, Cambodia and India, says that Cherry's donation is directly responsible for the building of an orphanage that houses two dozen hill tribe children in the Doi Saket district of northern Thailand, a half-hour outside Chiang Mai, according to ESPN.

Je'Rod Cherry at the 2002 Patriots-Rams Super Bowl - he would go on to sell the ring he'd win from the game

Asia's Hope orphanage near the Burmese border in Thailand is home to two dozen children (above) who owe their chance in life to Cherry

At the orphanage, the kids live in family-like dorms, watch TV, study, eat together, and have playtime outside

Without the orphanage, the children might otherwise die, become drug dealers, or have to work in sex slavery. But at Asia's Hope, the children have a 90 percent high school graduation rate and go on to work in various industries.

Cherry got the idea to sell one of his three rings when he attended a teen-organized charitable event with his wife, and when the event came up $20,000 short of their goal to build an orphanage, a girl jokingly suggested that Cherry sell one of his rings.

At the time, Cherry laughed it off, but then he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Big-hearted Cherry decided to sell his first Super Bowl ring (above) as it meant the most to him

He had grown up in poverty himself, in Oakland and Berkeley, before his skills on the field got him a full scholarship to Cal-Berkeley, and onto the start of his football career with the New Orleans Saints and eventually the Patriots.

So he knew what being poor was like - but it was nothing like the children he saw pictures of overseas. One picture he saw at the charitable event was a child on the verge of starvation, and the vulture that hovered nearby, waiting for the child to die.

Cherry, above with Tom Brady and the Patriots in a 2005 game against the Eagles, won three Super Bowl rings

'I'm a father with four kids, and something like that really puts you in your place,' he told ESPN. 'You're thinking, 'Oh my gosh, someone is actually living like that.' And here I am throwing some of my food away.'

Once he decided he would sell his ring and donate the proceeds to charity, he had to choose which one. The first ring held the most significance for him, not only because it was his first Super Bowl win, but because it had been a very tough year physically.

'No disrespect to the other two rings,' he said. 'I easily could've given the second or third one, and nobody would've said anything. But my thought was, 'If I'm going to give anything that's sacrificial and supposed to represent my faith in God, I'd better give my best and what I care about the most.''

Tom Brady's sister, Nancy, put him in touch with an organizer who came up with the idea of a raffle - this way, fans could have a chance at the ring, just by buying $10 worth of tickets.

The raffle brought in $200,000. Money went to charities Boston for Africa and Feed My Starving Children - as well as Asia's Hope.

Strong safety Cherry runs during a game against the Miami Dolphins - Cherry's heart is just as big as his play

The money was enough to build an orphanage that is more like comfortable dorm-rooms, and that has a 1-5 child-staff ratio. Some of the children live with their nuclear families in family-like dorms, and the orphanage never splits siblings, nor do children 'age out.' Support is given until the children are fully prepared to get on heir feet with their own life.

Some of the kids are now in college or studying in vocational training.

The orphanage's executive director, John McCollum, said the children are forever grateful to Cherry.

'I do recognize that something like a Super Bowl ring is really irreplaceable," McCollum told ESPN. 'But Je'Rod took what he had earned and is rightfully his, something that is priceless, and divested himself of that and did something that is truly transformational for these kids.'

Tutu Bee, who used to be an orphan but now runs 10 of Asia Hope's homes, said some of the kids are taking an interest in American football.

She also wanted to get a message to Cherry, who has yet to visit.

'Their lives will never be the same because of him. He's given them new life. We all appreciate him, and we would like him to come and visit us here,' she said.

Cherry, for his part, was blown away by pictures of the children that Bee sent.

'It's a priority of mine to make it to Thailand this year to celebrate, encourage, and hopefully bless these beautiful faces in the pictures!' Cherry wrote to ESPN. 'They appear very happy and content when you consider what they have faced in life.'