Turning a football star’s moment into a movement

A Heisman Trophy acceptance speech from a child of Appalachia brought in gifts from people near and far, turning Joe Burrow’s words into nourishment for those facing food insecurity in his hometown and beyond.

The Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund at FAO is making a difference for those in southeast Ohio who go home to not a lot of food on the table while striving to end hunger in the region altogether.

It all started on Dec. 14, 2019, when Joe Burrow stepped on stage to accept the Heisman Trophy, given each year to the nation’s most outstanding college football player. The Louisiana State University quarterback did the classic thanking of teammates, coaches, family and friends. Then, he took just a few moments – 31 seconds to be exact – to talk about Athens County, Ohio, the community he had called home since grade school.

Burrow spoke of his many classmates and neighbors who didn’t know where their next meal was going to come from – in a county with a food insecurity rate of nearly 20 percent.

“I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County who go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school,” he said. “You guys can be up here, too.”

His heartfelt words echoed not only throughout his hometown but across the nation. Within hours of Burrow’s speech, donations to the Athens County Food Pantry started pouring in.

By the end of January 2020, more than 13,000 people had donated $650,600 to the Athens County Food Pantry, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that has provided supplemental and emergency food aid to residents in need for more than 40 years.

“In just a few sentences, Joe Burrow sparked a flood of generosity and a growing community of supporters united by a desire to help fill the most fundamental of human needs,” said Karin Bright, president of the Athens County Food Pantry. “We knew we had an obligation to him and to all those donors to transform that moment and their generosity into sustainable action.”

Driven to maximize these gifts – and in collaboration with the Burrow Family – the Athens County Food Pantry invested $350,000 to create the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund at FAO in July 2020. With support from the Ohio Legislature, FAO matched that initial investment dollar for dollar, resulting in $700,000 for the fund.

Today, the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund stands at more than $1.65 million – and counting. Thanks to generous donors, its impact has expanded beyond Athens County but is being felt close to home.

In 2022, the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund partnered with FAO to award its first hunger relief grant to those working on the front lines of food insecurity in a neighboring county. The grant is helping to expand the reach and results of the Meigs County Schools Food Pantry, a county-wide, school-based food pantry that provides a monthly, year-round distribution of healthy, nutritious food to school-age children and their families experiencing food insecurity.