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On April 23rd, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Joe Burrow with the first pick in the NFL draft. In December, Mr. Burrow touched the nation when he used his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech to call attention to serious food problems in his hometown of Athens, Ohio.

“There’s so many people there that don’t have a lot,” he reminded the nation, “and 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.” Within days, contributions in excess of $500,000 poured into the Athens County food pantry.

It is praiseworthy for a celebrity like Joe Burrow to use his fame to help those in need. But what if I told you that Food Banks provide only 10% of food assistance across the United States? The problem Mr. Burrow sees so clearly persists despite the US government providing $3B per year to Ohio through the food stamps program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan (SNAP).

Food Banks deserve our support, especially during this pandemic. SNAP deserves the support of Americans at all times. Without SNAP, our food banks would be overwhelmed by children, families and seniors in need.