Donna Kelce, the mother of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, is not only a supportive football mom but also a philanthropist. Kelce, 71, recently collaborated with small business Annie’s Barn to raise funds for elementary school kids in Kansas by allowing her famous cookie recipe to be printed on mugs.
After purchasing 20 mugs from Annie’s Barn as Christmas gifts, the business owner, Annie Stowe, proposed the idea of using Kelce’s cookie recipe on a mug to donate $5 per sale towards paying off elementary school lunch debt. Kelce agreed, and the ‘Mama Kelce’s Cookies’ mug was born.
Annie and her wife Karen Eskilson started making the mugs in their basement, and each sale of the $18 mug contributes $5 to their Out of the Red Friday initiative, aimed at paying off lunch debt at local schools. The initiative has raised a total of $4,100 so far.
The success of the fundraiser is especially significant given the widespread issue of school meal debt in the United States. According to the Education Data Initiative, more than 30 million students in the country cannot afford their school meals, with the national public school meal debt totaling $262 million annually. In Kansas alone, the school meal debt is $23,515,926.
Donna Kelce, currently in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, has yet to respond to the proposal of delivering the raised funds to the schools. However, her support for this cause has made a meaningful impact in addressing the school meal debt crisis.
