Breaking News
Getty
Joe Burrow‘s emotional tribute to his hometown during his Heisman acceptance speech has kick-started a national campaign to help out … with over $115k raised for the local food pantry.
The LSU superstar brought awareness to the financial challenges surrounding Athens County, OH while tearing up on Saturday … saying, “Coming from southeast Ohio it’s a very impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost two times the national average.”
“There’s so many people there that don’t have a lot and I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. You guys can be up here too.”
One Athens man was so moved by Burrow’s message, he started a fundraiser to help put food on the tables for people in Athens.
“Let’s answer Joey’s call to action by supporting a local nonprofit that serves food to more than 5,000 households in Athens County each year,” Will Drabold said in the post.
Of course, Burrow is beloved in his hometown … and was an absolute beast for the Athens Bulldogs before becoming the best college player in the country.
The campaign started on Sunday … and it’s already raised a whopping $116,000 for the Athens County Food Pantry.
Props to all involved.
Also — If you haven’t watched all of Burrow’s acceptance speech, the whole thing is amazing. Check it out.