CINCINNATI—The Joe Burrow Foundation he’s already taking aim at hunger and mental health issues in southern Ohio, as his first recipients are seeing the impact of the Cincinnati Bengals star’s support.
The foundation, which launched in early October, is working to meet the needs of working families overcoming food insecurity and mental illness in Ohio and Louisiana, the two states that helped shape his football career.
what you need to know
- The Joe Burrow Foundation aims to help families overcome food insecurity and childhood mental health issues.
- The foundation has boards working in Ohio and Louisiana.
- La Soupe, a food rescue initiative, is one of its first beneficiaries
- The kitchen will receive $50,000 to help with its mission to transform rescued food into meals for those in need.
The quarterback’s parents, Jimmy and Robin Burrow, serve as vice presidents of the foundation.
Foundation members meet with their Louisiana Board. (Courtesy: Joe Burrow Foundation)
“We feel great to have this opportunity to help families across the country,” said Jimmy Burrow.
Earlier this month, the foundation made its first large-scale donation, helping 20 Cincinnati-area families cover medical bills for children receiving mental health care. In the coming weeks, Burrow said the foundation will donate $50,000 to the food rescue kitchen, Soup.
“Joe wanted to make sure that he was able to give back to a place, to an area, to a state that is (important) to Joe and to our family,” his father said.
Suzy DeYoung, founder of La Soupe, said she has been a fan of Joe Burrow since his Heisman Trophy. acceptance speechin which he took the time to highlight the problem of food insecurity in his home county of Athens.
“You could feel his sincerity of wanting to help people and recognizing that he is now in a place to help people,” he said.
DeYoung said she is honored that the foundation selected her nonprofit as one of its first grantees.
“This is like a dream come true for me, not because she’s a celebrity now, but because she’s someone else who cares,” she said. “He is building a team. We are building a team.”
Suzy DeYoung oversees operations in the kitchen at La Soupe. (Spectrum News 1/Michelle Alfini)
DeYoung started La Soupe in 2014, seeking to create a way to take food that would otherwise go to waste and, through the talents of experienced chefs, transform it into high-quality meals for those in need.
In the years since, it has grown to serve thousands and looks to help other kitchens across the state do the same.
“The governor tasked us with growing our model statewide, so now we have the La Soupe Kitchen network,” he said.
The first associated kitchen is Dayton’s Miami Valley Foods, but DeYoung hopes they’ll soon grow to touch every corner of Ohio. And as that growth kicks into high gear, a $50,000 windfall goes a long way.
“We didn’t see this on our radar, (this) kind of money falling,” DeYoung said. “We can really do a lot of good.”
The funds will go toward La Soupe’s overall operating budget, and while DeYoung said he doesn’t have a specific project in mind for the money, he looks forward to seeing how far he can go to help others.
“There will be a lot more receivers of his touchdown because of his generosity,” he said.
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