When the Covid-19 pandemic took root and schools were forced to close, Ian Rapoport considered himself to be lucky that he could provide the tools and resources needed for his young sons Max and Jude to continue their schooling at home in a virtual setting.
“The kids are amazing,” said Rapoport, a commentator on NFL Network and a Rye resident. “They roll along and kind of adjusted and settled in to the routine pretty well. And for my wife, and at least for me, it was not as easy.”
Still, Rapoport and his wife, Leah, recognized that other families would not be able to make the abrupt transition to home-based schooling.
“We had computers and school supplies, and we made lunch for them every day,” he said. “We had everything we need. But there was a moment, probably a month in, when I texted my wife from my office and said that we needed to talk about something. There was a realization that we needed to figure out something to do to help people who don”™t have everything they need and do not have it nearly as good as us.”
The Rapoports researched how they could help others and settled on collaborating with two national nonprofits that assist both schoolchildren and teachers facing difficult situations.
The organizations are Blessings in a Backpack, which coordinates with local schools and nonprofits to provide food on the weekends for elementary schoolchildren who might otherwise go hungry, and The Kids in Need Foundation, which provides free school supplies and support for teachers.
Rapoport said he and his wife were impressed with how the two organizations were designed to assist households that too often suffer in silence.
“Think about people who can”™t just go to the refrigerator and pick out lunch,” Rapoport said. “Or those who can”™t just go to the store for a stack of pencils and hand another one out if one breaks. That was where we started in our conversation.”
Rapoport added that he was contributing his name and popularity to the outreach efforts by the organizations, hoping that it would spark a greater visibility for their fundraising efforts.
“I have a big social media following,” he said. “I”™ve done some social media work by raising awareness, tweeting, putting this on Instagram and letting people know where to give.”
Rapoport has already made an impact with his sons in explaining why he has put his support behind the organizations.
“I continually try to tell them to please understand that not all kids have it like us,” he said.
“I say, ”˜If you are hungry and you want an extra snack, that is not a problem for us. It”™s not like that for every kid or every family. If you run out of pages in your journal and you need extra sheets of paper, it”™s not a big deal for us. It”™s not like that for everyone.”™
“And one of the things we did when we first partnered with Kids in Need and Blessings in a Backpack was to sit them down and explain what we”™re doing, that we are going to give money, time and resources to people who are not working enough like we are. And that”™s a message we continue to talk about with them and it is one they understand.”
Rapoport added he is hopeful his effort will make an impact, both in the wider society and in his home.
“I don”™t know what”™s going to come of this pandemic,” he said. “But if our children believe that you should help people who don”™t have things you have, and if that sticks with them, that would be a big win for our family.”
