ATHENS, Ohio — Athens County’s food insecurity issues were brought into the national spotlight by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow — who sparked more than $650,000 in donations to help families. And now, an official partnership between the Athens County Food Pantry and Burrow has been made.

What You Need To Know


  • Joe Burrow and the Athens County Food Pantry have established a hunger relief fund to combat food insecurity in Athens County

  • The endowment started with $800,000 in funding, thanks mainly to funds generated after Burrow’s Heisman speech

  • The endowment fund will allow the Athens Co. Food Pantry to address hunger issues for generations

  • The ACFP hopes to use the funding to come up with solutions that address the root causes of food insecurity, as well as providing meals to those who need it

For the Athens County Food Pantry (ACFP), it’s been a wild ride so far this year. It started with a tremendous outpouring of support sparked by Joe Burrow’s Heisman speech.

Then the pandemic happened, making the food pantry even more essential to the people of Athens County.

“We started out behind the eight ball so to speak,” Karin Bright, president of the ACFP said. “We were the county with the highest level of poverty, highest level of food insecurity in the state. And when you’re already starting from that line, with all this happening, I think it’s only going to get worse.

She said in order to properly thank Burrow for generating more than $650,000 in support, the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund has been established — and by doing so more dollars are coming in.

“When we announced the endowment last week, it was $800,000 to start.”

Kroger, Bose, and the People’s Bank are also pledging their support to the fund.

Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, expressed his gratitude for all the support.

“I’m so grateful for the outpouring of support from people across the country around the food insecurity issues faced by those in my region,” Burrow said in a press release. “The initial funds that were raised have had an immediate impact for people throughout Athens County, and I am honored to lend my support and voice to this new initiative that will ensure that impact lasts long into the future.”

Bright said the partnership with Burrow will allow the ACFP to address the issue of hunger on a deeper level than simply having enough food to feed the area.

“Just the fact that we are now talking about this problem will give us the opportunity to find a way to start solving these problems,” Bright said. “Rather than just brushing it under the rug and just giving people a box of food, but now maybe a way we can actually start to address the root causes of hunger and food insecurity in this country.”

In addition to the tremendous outpouring of support, the ACFP has drastically increased the efficiency of its operation, as it is all now under one roof.

“It makes it much more efficient for our packers and easier for our distributors to do their work,” Bright said. “And what really, really is the best thing, is we are saving about 50 percent on our costs for our facilities."

Bright hopes the momentum established by Athens’s favorite son can continue to propel the county out of their long-held hunger woes. And ultimately, they are grateful for Joey Burrow, for all that he’s done and all he will continue to do for Athens County.

“Here is a young man who has his whole world ahead of him in terms of athletics and this is one of the areas that he really cares about,” Bright said. “So we wanna thank Joe, his mom and dad for raising such a fine young man. We wanna thank everyone who has been so generous with us.”