On Saturday, May 16, Villanova guard Tyler Perkins participated in an athlete-backed event aimed to combat hunger in Wynmoor, PA.
Perkins was a last-minute addition to the panel for the event “Athletes at the Table: Panel and Networking Combating Food Insecurity,” hosted by the nonprofit It Takes a Village to Feed One Child at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. The panel discussed the effects of nutrition on brain health and development.
The event included industry leaders and professional athletes who discussed the effects of nutrition on brain health and development. The panel was made up of industry leaders and professional athletes, including Perkins; former Philadelphia 76ers Aaron McKie and Theo Ratliff; Philadelphia Eagles safety Rodney McLeod; CEO and founder of It Takes a Village to Feed One Child Mark Wainwright; and Director of Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential Janet Dorman. The panel discussion was hosted by Quincy Harris, a Philadelphia media personality and CEO of The Cornerstone Group.
The panel discussion concluded with a Q&A.
Perkins, a rising senior, was invited to join the panel to bring in the perspective of a current active student-athlete on the importance and significance of nutrition. He spoke about the importance of nutrition in relation to physical performance and mental health, going into his fourth year of playing collegiate basketball.
He has spent his entire collegiate career in the Philadelphia area. Before transferring to Villanova, Perkins spent his freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania. Perkins is a native of Lorton, VA.
McLeod and his wife, Erika McLeod, have their own nonprofit, Change Our Future, that supplies free haircuts, sneakers and school supplies to children in need.
Ratliff joined the effort because he noticed the food insecurities in his hometown of Demopolis, AL.
The nonprofit currently provides over 250,000 meals and snacks on a monthly basis to 100 child, adult and at-risk centers across Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, & Bucks Counties. During a time when SNAP benefits have been cut by the federal government and grocery prices are rising consistently, it has also expanded into the states of New Jersey and Delaware, serving Atlantic City, Mt Laurel, Voorhees, Camden, & Wilmington, respectively.
It Takes a Village to Feed One Child was founded in 2017 by Wainwright.
Between 210,000 and 300,000 residents in Philadelphia experience food security, which at most is 21% of the city’s population, according to a Philadelphia City Council’s Food and Nutrition Security Task Force report in February. The 21% of Philadelphia’s population that is food-insecure is extremely higher than the national average of 9.1%.
The nonprofit has seven different programs that serve the Philadelphia tri-state area. For one looking to get involved in the nonprofit’s efforts, more information can be found at its website.
Perkins is currently rehabbing from arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. He is expected to return to full basketball activities over the summer. Perkins is entering his third season on the Main Line and is coming off being named the Big East Most Improved Player of the Year and an NCAA Tournament run. He will be a key piece to head coach Kevin Willard’s roster next season, which begins on Nov. 1 in Rome, Italy, against Notre Dame.
