Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram is using his time “off” during the lockout to launch a foundation with a cause that is close to his heart. The Heisman winner wants to help kids that have parents in jail.
“The foundation is something that’s real important to me,” Ingram told WWLTV.com last week at its launch. “It’s something I’m living, something I’m going through, something my sisters and I have experienced off and on throughout our lives.”
Ingram’s father, former Giants receiver Mark Ingram Sr., was sentenced to 92 months in prison on bank-fraud and money-laundering charges. The idea of the foundation will be to provide stability and lessons for kids who lose one or both of their parents to jail.
“There are so many negative statistics that come along with children or youth [who] have a parent or two parents that are incarcerated,” Ingram told Bradley Handwerger. “I just want to let them know that although you have a parent who is gone or he or she is incarcerated, you can still be whatever you want to be, do whatever you want to do. You just have to put your mind to it.”
His first activity was an outing with 100 kids Sunday at the Audobon Zoo in New Orleans. It’s great to see Ingram is wasting no time getting involved with his new community. (Which just so happens to be my favorite city.)