Local businesses, students raise $31K for Sam Hubbard’s foundation

HARRISON, Ohio (WXIX) – A Tri-State school district set an ambitious fundraising goal after the Bengals won the AFC Championship.

The fundraiser benefited Bengals Defensive End Sam Hubbard’s fight against insecurity in his native southwest Ohio.

Southwest Local Schools aimed to bring in $9,400 in donations by last Friday. And if they accomplished that goal, the district would cancel classes Super Bowl Monday.

The goal was shattered within three days. Wednesday night, a district spokesperson announced the students had nearly tripled the goal already.

The spokesperson exhorted the students, staff and parents to keep donating. The donation link was active throughout last weekend.

The district ended up raising $31,576.

Now the students will have Super Bowl Monday off, but Southwest Schools Communications Director Mike Morris says it was about more than that.

“I feel like the kids are growing up with that mindset of giving back, thinking beyond yourself and doing things for the greater good,” Morris remarked.

Morris says he and his coworkers were shocked to learn the goal had been exceeded within the first 48 hours.

Some of the final amount comprised large donations, including $5,000 from orthodontic practice Boley Braces and $3,000 from El Mariachi owner Omar Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has a senior at Harrison High School, and his daughter graduated just a few years ago.

“He was surprised, and my daughter too,” Rodriguez. “They say, ‘How much you give?’ And I say, ‘I’m not going to tell you!’”

Rodriguez says he wants to instill in his children the importance of supporting others, just as the Harrison community has supported his business.

Hubbard, 26, started his foundation after being drafted by the Bengals in 2018. The foundation works to help the people of Ohio combat hunger by providing vulnerable children and families with educational, medical and athletic resources.

“The state of Ohio and the sport of football have done so much for my family,” Hubbard said, “and now I’m using that platform to give back to the very same communities that lifted me to where I am today.”

Hubbard’s foundation directly benefits students in Southwest Schools.

“The Freestore Foodbank provides powerpacks to our students to take home over the weekend,” Morris said. “They help stock our pantry.”

It’s a pantry that’s available to any student in the district.

Morris says the students hope to present the check to Sam Hubbard in person in the weeks after the Super Bowl.

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