CINCINNATI — Food insecurity is an issue across the country.
In the Buckeye State, the Joe Burrow Foundation is doing what they can to make a difference in southern Ohio by partnering with La Soupe.
It's a Cincinnati-based company that delivers meals to people in need all year round to the Queen City, Athens and other surrounding communities. Recently, the foundation donated a van to La Soupe, making meal delivery much easier to the Bengals star QB’s hometown of Athens.
“We had this opportunity with a soup to offer their hearty, healthy meals to the Athens community. And so we really just saw purchasing this van. Gifting it to was soup was going to be the best option to continue to serve the Cincinnati community and also serve the Athens southeast Ohio,” said Joe Burrow Foundation Executive Director Amy Floyd.
Floyd said the new van will be used one day a week to deliver food to the Athens community. Floyd said that adds up to be about 2,500 servings a week. The rest of the week, La Soupe plans to use the van to serve Cincinnati.
“So it's kind of a double benefit for the communities that we're looking to serve. And we just feel very lucky that the Soup is a great partner of ours and is willing to do that and continue to serve those that are food insecure,” said Floyd.
One of the main issues in Athens and in other rural communities is the idea of transportation.
“If you give the food away, they have to somehow get that home and get it home safely and with the proper bags and all of that stuff. So really trying to figure out how do we infiltrate this market with the right resources so that families are not struggling with this specific issue,” said Floyd.
Along with working with La Soupe, the foundation has also worked with Athens County Schools to provide free, fresh produce and meals.
“And then kind of had these different opportunities to get food away, fresh produce away. And so in that process, we really drove in to say, OK, this is another gap or this is another opportunity that we could serve and support these families and really meet them when they're where they are,” said Floyd.
The Burrow family prides themselves on helping their community in as many ways as possible and through the joe burrow foundation they are truly making a difference. Click here if you would like to find out more information about this food program or donate and volunteer your time.