The Shortstop and His Wife, Amanda, Help Children in Crisis Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – With America’s pastime scheduled to start its spring training in less than one month, Arizona Diamondbacks’ Nick Ahmed intends to hit many homeruns this season – on and off the field. Along with his wife, Amanda, the shortstop has personally joined Compassion International’s Fill The Stadium Team to help children in crisis in the developing world during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ahmeds join over 40 professional athletes and national leaders – with a very clear goal: to provide 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. 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.
“The need to help these children has only intensified in light of the pandemic,” said Ahmed, who hit .266 with five home runs and 29 RBIs in 57 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. “While we’ve missed having fans at our games, our hope is that those in more fortunate situations will join our team to help provide basic needs to children and their families across the world.”
The Fill The Stadium team notes that $500—approximately the same amount most Americans would spend for a family of four to attend a professional sports 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.
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 over 40 professional athletes and national leaders.
Joining the Ahmeds 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.
Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian child development organization that works to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the Church to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Compassion partners with more than 8,000 churches in 25 countries to deliver its holistic child development program to over 2 million babies, children and young adults. Its child sponsorship program has been validated through independent, empirical research.