‘We Need to Step Up and Make a Difference’
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The New Orleans Saints may not have won last week’s playoff game, but wide receiver Austin Carr, is keeping his focus on winning for another team – Compassion International’s Fill The Stadium. Carr, who scored his first touchdown of the season on New Year’s Day against the Carolina Panthers, proudly added his name to the list of athletes and leaders bringing attention to an extremely worthy cause: aiding children in the developing world who are in crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fill The Stadium has a clear goal: to provide food and life-saving aid to 70,000 children in Compassion International’s programs who missed out on relief this year due to gaps of support created by the COVID-19 crisis. The target of 70,000 is the average capacity of pro-football stadiums in America. Fill The Stadium leaders hope that fans who normally would have spent money on professional sports games this year—but couldn’t—choose instead to support children and their families at risk of starvation.
“These children are starving,” Carr stated. “During the pandemic, everyone is making small sacrifices, altering how we live and do our jobs. But we can’t alter how we react to children in need. We need to step up and help make a difference.”
Fill The Stadium team leaders—Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado, CEO and president of Compassion International, and Steve Stenstrom, president of Pro Athletes Outreach—have already received a strong assist from 37 athletes and leaders.
The Fill The Stadium team notes that $500—approximately the same amount most Americans would spend for a family of four to attend a pro-football game—will help provide 12 months of life saving food, nutritional supplements, hygiene essentials, and COVID-19 medical screenings for children and families in crisis. So far, the group has “filled” over 22,000 seats— on their way to the goal of helping 70,000 children.
Joining Carr and Mellado in leadership roles for Fill The Stadium efforts are such standout professional athletes as Nick Foles, professional football MVP quarterback; Alyssa Naeher of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team; Carson Palmer, former professional quarterback; Chris Davis, first baseman of the Baltimore Orioles; Devin and Jason McCourty, defensive backs of New England; Nate Solder of the New York Giants; Nick Ahmed of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes; Brock Huard, former professional quarterback, and many others.
In this year of coronavirus, “We are all experiencing the reality of empty stadiums,” says the Fill The Stadium team. It’s why this effort so desperately needs a caring, prayerful and thoughtful community to join together in this needed relief.
To learn more, visit the Fill The Stadium website, and Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.