The Power of Inspiration: Ben Curtis Family Foundation's 'Birdie Bags' are helping Northeast Ohio students thrive
The Ben Curtis Family Foundation partners with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to provide essentials that students can take home on days they're not in school. The Ben Curtis Family Foundation's 'Birdie Bags' are providing essential food and toiletries to local schools in Northeast Ohio. The foundation partners with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to provide these items for students who are not in school during the weekend. The bags, which contain six meals and four snacks, are filled with a weekend worth of food and are given to local students who rely heavily on the school for their meals. Volunteers such as Sue Schwartzhoff have been helping out for five years. Ben Curtis, a former Kent State athlete and champion PGA golfer, believes that the need for food insecurity is growing and that it makes a difference to students' lives.
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The Ben Curtis Family Foundation partners with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to provide essentials that students can take home on days they're not in school.
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KENT, Ohio — You may know Ben Curtis as a star Kent State University athlete and a champion PGA golfer, but you may not know that for the past ten years, he and his wife Candace have been making a real difference in their Kent community.
When the couple, who met as students and golf team members at Kent State, learned that 20 percent of children in Portage, Stark and Summit counties face food insecurity, they knew, they had to take action. The Ben Curtis Family Foundation was established in 2013 and they quickly set out to donate what they called "Birdie Bags' - filled with food and toiletries, to local schools.
"There's a weekend worth of food in there, and it makes a huge difference in these people's lives - the kids' lives, the families as well. And we thought what better way to be able to get our hands dirty and help and have fun with it," Ben explained to 3News Contributor Matt Kaulig.
"This is home and you see the need. I think having our two kids in the schools [we are able to see] the need is definitely there and it's only growing," she told 3News anchor Jay Crawford.
'In our bags, we do six meals and four snacks... so it's really just a bag of food to get kids through the weekend when they're not in school, because most of these kids are depending on the school for their meals," Candace explained.
"I grew up in a working class family. My grandfather built a golf course in a small town of Ostrander, Ohio. Total about 200 people, a very small town," he said. "For me to be able to overcome that and to make it on the PGA tour, not only get there, but to win a few times and have some great success [shows you can overcome the odds]. So that's what we talk about. It doesn't matter how small you are, you can do great things and hopefully we're providing that for our kids."
"You can absolutely see it. I mean, all of our students, when their needs are met, whether it's socially, emotionally, nutritionally, we see a difference. So certainly we know those students that get the Birdie Bags, we can see that energy on Monday. We know how it affects them. It definitely makes a difference."
Matt and Jay had the chance to see their team in action and even help back some bags. It was clear, this mission wouldn’t be possible without a village -one made up of incredible volunteers like Sue Schwartzhoff, who has been helping out for the past five years.
"It just makes your heart full," she said. "You can't help but volunteer and get something back in return by doing good for others. The good comes back to you tenfold."
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