Joe Burrow hosts foundation event at La Soupe with Guinness Gives Back

The Bengals quarterback took time on Sunday morning to give back with his foundation.

There were small groups of people talking amongst themselves surrounding the volunteer stations at La Soupe on Sunday morning.

The room, full of about 30 people, was loud enough that you really had to speak up to be heard. That all changed when Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow entered the room from the back. You could hear a pin drop.

Guinness hosted the event at La Soupe as part of their Guinness Gives Back initiative, and they partnered with the Joe Burrow Foundation, to help fight food insecurity in the Cincinnati area, and beyond.

La Soupe, a non-profit in Walnut Hills, repurposes excess food to help feed those who don’t necessarily know where their next meal will come from. According to La Soupe’s website, Cincinnati has the fifth-highest rate of childhood poverty in the country, all while 40 percent of food is lost or wasted each year.

“Our primary mission is to rescue food,” said Suzy DeYoung, the owner of La Soupe. “That food, that is perfectly good, that you’ll see, has been over ordered, overproduced, over grown. We take nutritious food, create really beautiful meals, beautiful soups, and then distribute it to about 180 agencies throughout the Greater Cincinnati Area.”

The agencies La Soupe distributes to include schools, and “anywhere there is food insecurity.” They strive to make sure those who cannot afford to feed themselves not only eat, but eat a nutritious high-quality meal that was prepared by professional chefs with ingredients that would otherwise have been wasted.

The Joe Burrow Foundation’s main goals are to help children struggling with mental illness, and those experiencing food insecurity. Naturally, La Soupe and the quarterback’s foundation make a natural pair.

Burrow’s parents, Jim and Robin, were also in attendance to not only support their son, but volunteer their time to help the foundation achieve its goal.

“The Joe Burrow Foundation is partnering with La Soupe and Guinness to prepare some food,” Jim said. “The mission statement for the Joe Burrow Foundation is to provide finances and resources for food insecurity in Cincinnati and Southeast Ohio. So we have a lot of people here today. We’re going to have fun, we’re going to prepare some food, and get it delivered here in Cincinnati.”

Robin told the crowd in attendance the foundation had purchased a van to allow La Soupe to ship meals to Southeast Ohio, one of the states poorest regions, and where the family calls home.

The task of the day was chopping carrots. Rows of volunteers chopped fresh carrots, filling up massive containers with inch-long chunks. Burrow as well as representatives from Guinness and La Soupe also stripped fresh herbs and ladled soup into plastic containers for distribution.

Burrow, who wore a small compression sleeve over his injured right wrist, walked among the volunteer stations to encourage those who had given up their Sunday mornings to chop vegetables.

After about 90 minutes of chopping vegetables, the tubs were full of carrots, and it was time for the volunteers to head out. Before the doors opened, though, everyone cracked a Guinness and shared a toast with a representative from Guinness Gives Back. Then Burrow had a few words to say.

“Thanks to everyone for coming out. Thanks to Guinness, Guinness Gives Back, La Soupe, and thanks to my man wearing my jersey,” Burrow said, pointing to a young child in attendance as the crowd cheered.

Burrow, along with his parents and members of his foundation, then posed for pictures with the volunteers and the staff of La Soupe, after which representatives from Guinness presented the Joe Burrow Foundation a check for $500,000.

As volunteers filtered out, they were able to take Guinness t-shirts, hats, and St. Patrick’s Day beads. They left having not only done an enormous amount of work to help feed families struggling with food insecurity in the Cincinnati area as well as Southeast Ohio but also got to witness their favorite football team’s most important player give back to those less fortunate.

Burrow has proven time and time again, that not only is he a championship caliber quarterback, he’s a wonderful human being that cares about lifting up those around him. It’s also very clear, based on his family’s work through his foundation, that he was raised to be that way.

If you would like to donate to the Joe Burrow Foundation, you can do so here. For more information on Guinness Gives Back, click here. And for more information on La Soupe, click here.

Video from the event will be edited and uploaded on the Orange and Black Insider later this week.