Would the inclusion of athletics influence identity, academics, and social skills of youth with an incarcerated parent?
Khalid Cannon, who grew up in Alabama and had lost his father to prison at age four, would answer that question in the affirmative. His extended family of grandparents, uncles, and aunts had not wanted him to suffer as a failure in the shadow of an incarcerated parent, so they filled the gap of an absent father with sports — lots of sports.
“I had lots of family with a great support system and they got me through that difficult time,” said Cannon, “I had a football family, I had a baseball family, and I had a basketball family; they kept me focused. Eventually, all my sports took me to playing football for Yale.”
Cannon visited the San Quentin News newsroom to talk about Put Me In, a nonprofit he co-founded. He started Put Me In with the goal of institutionalizing the sports program his multi-disciplinary sports families had given him. Put Me In would accomplish its mission by awarding children with an incarcerated parent $1,000 annually to pay for sports-related expenses.
Cannon, a Berkeley College graduate at Yale, class of 2017, played left tackle for which his towering 6’6″ eminently qualified him. He graduated with a double major in chemistry and geology. After Yale, Cannon worked as a geologist for a mining company. He then switched to Core BTS, a consultancy.
The nonprofit’s co-founder, San Franciscan and fellow Yale graduate, Matt Blodgett, of Pearson College, class of 2000, had the same background and wanted to give back, too. Together with Bostonian Robin Glaser, the trio started the nonprofit in the summer of 2020.
“Because we started out right in the middle of Covid, we did not award the first cohort until the summer of 2021,” Cannon said. Put Me In has reached its early goal of serving over 100 recipients.
“What’s cool about us is that we stay with the kids for the long run and we have them participate for the long run,” said Cannon. “Older kids can use our accelerators; they got that full autonomy to figure out where to come out successful.”
Cannon said the nonprofit would provide financial aid of $1,000 to each enrollee, starting as young as first grade and recurring annually through high school. Meant to cover the cost of sports, the funds would assist system-impacted families by helping them with expenses related to sports, such as travel, equipment and participation fees.
“We get kids who could not afford anything and we have had nothing but success. The kids now have positive role models and we see improved self-esteem and self-confidence,” said Cannon.
The organization has also made a point in showing loyalty to its award recipients.
“Once caregivers leave jail or prison, we do not kick out the kids,” said Cannon. “We stay with them until they graduate high school. We do ask for report cards to make sure that they keep playing sports.” Put Me In also engaged in tracking recipients’ sports statistics.
Cannon said Put Me In aid did not only go to players. “We give financial aid to cheerleaders, too. We also have ballet dancers.”
“What started as a program to help kids ended up helping whole families. The kids just do not feel so alone,” said Cannon.
Interested in joining Put Me In!?
Put Me In! is a nonprofit that helps children with incarcerated parents access and thrive in sports programs across the country. Families interested in enrolling can join our waitlist by visiting: https://forms.office.com/r/aVhXgiRcXi.
Please note that enrollment is based on funding availability and is not guaranteed. For any questions, reach out to us at hello@putmein.org.
