LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The 19th annual Taste of Little Rock event is set to happen this year on the floors of the Jackson Stephens Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The event, which takes place on April 2 from 6 to 8 p.m., aims to fill up guests' stomachs for a good cause.
“This is kind of a sampling menu of the capital city. 100 restaurants, bakeries, cafes, all you can eat all you can drink, you choose what you want, and you can go back for seconds, thirds, or fourths. It's a no-judgment zone," described Travis Rowan, a well-known radio personality and UA Little Rock alum.
Over 1000 people will attend the event, benefiting dozens of students in the process through the UA Little Rock Alumni Association scholarship fund— a cause near and dear to Rowan.
“I'm fortunate to be in a position where I can give back to students and this is just one of those events. One of the ways we raise money for scholarships," Rowan said.
If you’re not familiar with Rowan's face, you might have heard his voice. Rowan is locally known as "Tre' Day" and has been on central Arkansas airwaves at Power 92 since he was in high school.
“October this year will be my 29th year," Rowan said. “I always knew that I wanted to have a voice in the community I didn't know it would be a literal voice through radio. So I was very blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity and I just kind of took the ball and ran with it.”
The stars have aligned for Tre' Day, who got a unique start after getting the job in the middle of taking a tour of the radio station.
"Being an Air Force kid, I always kind of lacked long-lasting friendships because I'd have to move so much. But everywhere I went, I always had a radio station that I could listen to. So I loved hip hop music and automatically was drawn to Power 92," Rowan explained. “My boss Broadway Joe always said, put your studies first he said family school then work."
The teenager would start college and balance being a lifeguard, DJ, and basketball player all while keeping a 4.0.
"I was one of those kids that had the want, the drive, but didn't have the money," Rowan added.
However, through scholarships like the ones being funded this week through the alumni association, Tre' Day was able to successfully finish.
Now, he wants to give back to the community in his own special way.
“The Tre' Day.com Scholarship Endowment Project. I started it right after I graduated high school, so this is the 25th year," Rowan explained. "We've helped countless number of students. Let me knock on wood, every one of them has graduated so far. So, 100 percent graduation rate, we look for kids who are like me, you know, smart driven, but just need financial help.”
He credited his single mother along with support systems like his boss for all his success. Now, he said it's all about investing in higher education to help keep students hungry for more learning opportunities.
“All the people you meet along the way, all the relationships you develop the small difference you make in a kid's life through the scholarship project or a food giveaway, or it's crazy the things that people remember, oftentimes, those small things, you know, is what's really important. That's what I cherish the most is the journey of it and not the actual destination," Rowan said.