On the latest episode of Listen In With KNN on Fox Sports 1340AM, host Kelsey Nicole Nelson presented the Sports Person of the Week Award to Executive Director and Founder of Together Assisting People (TAP) Chris Rogers on the show and welcomed Executive Director of Martha’s Table Kim R. Ford.
Speaking of TAP, they are a non-profit organization that provides opportunities to at-risk students from grades 8-12 that don’t have the financial resources. On Saturday July 25th, they will be doing an event at Martha’s Table in Ward 8 in Southeast Washington D.C from 12 to 3pm where they’ll be giving away 80,00 pounds of fruits and vegetables. Two players from the Washington Football Team, Daron Payne and Jimmy Moreland will join Rogers and April Taylor of the Strategy, Vision and Execution (SVE) Firm for the community.
“I talked to Daron Payne and we were talking about going to an area that really needed it the most. When we thought about Martha’s Table and the Mayor’s (Muriel Bowser) office connected us,” Rogers said. “Daron said ‘please put me in an area where our presence is felt’ and wanted to go to an area where most Washington Football Team players don’t go to. That’s why we chose Martha’s Table.”
Martha’s Table has been operating for 40 years and their pillars are education, health and wellness, family and community. They go through thousands of bags of groceries each day with the support from the Ward 8 community especially in these challenging times.
“When you talk about health and wellness and you have an organization that’s so reputable as TAP come and say ‘we have thousands of boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables that we can get out to a community that would really benefit from that,’’ Ford said. “When you see folks who are really suffering and succumbing to COVID-19, then you can trace that to other issues. A lot of that is due to pre-existing conditions that affect your health. A lot of which can be affected by healthy fruits, vegetables and a healthy eating style.”
Rogers was a college football player at the University of Alabama and won a National Championship in 2009 and understands the responsibility that athletes have with their platform.
“We try to be a beacon. We understand when you go to any kid and talk to them on what they want to be. They’re going to tell you they want to be an athlete,” said the Good Award winner. “As an athlete, it’s always good for them to see their athletes giving back to the community. Our kids need to see us being intentional about doing it.”
