Philanthropy, football and Joe’s southeast Ohio ties
Robin Burrow remembers the night after her son, Joe Burrow, gave his Heisman Trophy speech in December 2019, a middle-aged Black man stopped her on the way to the bathroom at a dinner gala in New York City.
“He told me, ‘I just wanted to tell you, the thing I’m so proud of about Joe’s speech is that as a white athlete he stood up there and talked about the poverty where he’s from in his white culture,'” she recalled. “And he said, ‘People will respond differently because, finally, a white athlete is talking about poverty.'”
The previous evening, mid-acceptance speech, Joe spoke of southeast Ohio with great pride, but also noted the impoverished region has a poverty rate almost twice the national average.
“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, ” he said. “You guys can be up here, too.”
Read More:‘Proud son of southeast Ohio’: What can Joe Burrow do for the region after the Super Bowl?
Robin, the principal of Eastern Elementary School in Appalachian Meigs County, knows firsthand the many issues facing southeast Ohio — including the regional food insecurity her son raised back in 2019.
She also recognizes the unique opportunity, as the Cincinnati Bengals’ Super Bowl-bound quarterback, Joe has to affect change in the next generation, from the perspective of an educator as well as an Appalachian Children’s Coalition board member, an advocacy organization dedicating to serving kids in the region.
The Dispatch spoke with Robin Burrow about her son, including his philanthropic influence in southeast Ohio. Here are selected excerpts from the phone interview, edited for clarity.
‘If Joe can do this … anybody can do this.’
Q: Robin, I’m curious, back when Joe gave his Heisman speech, if he had any idea the impact it would have on the region, with the Athens County Food Pantry, and if that kind of philanthropic effort is one he wants to take a larger role in?
A: That’s certainly on our minds as a family, but it’s not something we’ve really sat down and talked specifically with Joe. After his first year we thought we’d sit down and have a big team meeting … but he got hurt and then 100% of his attention went towards his surgery, rehab and getting back to play. It will certainly be a conversation point after this season.
This is Joe’s thing. Since food insecurity is something he’s already talked about, I feel like it’ll be children-focused, student-focused on making sure that, in general, kids have what they need, and families have what they need. That can go so deep because you have families who are in a situation where they have been in poverty for generations and generations, and haven’t built up their skill base to provide for their families.
Q: That speech seemed very organic, and it’s not like he signed up to be an economic development coordinator, right? That’s a lot of pressure to put on anyone, let alone a professional athlete whose job is to play football.
A: (Laughter) Yes, of course. And there’s so many different avenues that you can go to. Does that mean economic development? Job training? It’s a very deep and wide conversation to have to figure out where to make the biggest bang for your buck.
The one thing that we do talk about a little bit is just the fact that Joe is from southeast Ohio, and him just wanting the kids to believe in themselves, to push themselves and help the families to support the dreams of their children … if Joe can do this anybody can do this. Yeah, he was gifted with athletic ability, but he worked his tail off for it.
Q: I can imagine, too, that growing up in Athens — even if you guys weren’t the kind of family utilizing the Athens Food Pantry — it would ground you, to be surrounded by kids and a community who have a lot less?
A: Absolutely. Joe was pretty blessed. We traveled, met a lot of different kinds of people. I think his perspective was different than a lot of his classmates here in Athens — some had never even been to Columbus.
Q: Is there much organization, right now, in Joe’s efforts to combat food insecurity and further grow the Joe Hunger Relief Fund created by the Athens Food Pantry?
A: Honestly it’s still kind of been very organic. I’ve met with Karin Bright (president of the Athens County Food Pantry) and it was strategically re-named Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund. I personally think we have the responsibility as a family to help capitalize on his platform, notoriety and help where we can. And that’s one way we can do it very easily, but otherwise it’s still been pretty organic.
There are so many needs in southeast Ohio … not that there’s anything wrong with living here — people are happy here and work hard, but that little piece of hope that kids have eventually kind of gets worn down on. They have resiliency for a long time, but kids eventually start to feel the burden of everyday life and try to make ends meet and seeing their parents work so hard and still stress out paying bills or getting food. If there’s anything that can help change that burden it is trying to give hope and continuing to give (the region) exposure.
Q: On a little bit of a lighter note, how are you guys feeling right now? I mean, last week’s game was insane. I’m a [Chicago] Bears fan, not that the Bears give me a lot to root for, but wow, I’m all in on the Bengals now. Did you think they would make it to the Super Bowl this year?
A: I will have to say that I thought it was probably a stretch to get here this first year (laughter). But at the same time we’re unbelievably excited — once they started hitting their stride and getting momentum I was feeling pretty good.
Céilí Doyle is a Report for America corps member and covers rural issues in Ohio for The Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at https://bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
Read More: Philanthropy, football and Joe’s southeast Ohio ties