When Joe Burrow took the stage at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City last month, he mentioned the hunger problem many in his hometown of Athens, Ohio, face on a daily basis.

What happened next was incredible, as hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations were raised for the Athens food bank, all because of Burrow bringing light to the situation.

On Saturday, as Burrow participated in the CFP title game media day, he was asked about that impact. He said he never thought it would become a big fundraiser, but he’s happy so many lives are being positively affected by the decision (via ASAP Sports):

“I just wanted to mention where I came from,” he said. “That was part of my journey that helped me get to standing on that stage. A big issue in southeast Ohio is poverty and hunger. I didn’t mention it to have this big fundraiser to help a lot of people. I just mentioned it because it was what was in my heart at the time. That’s what I was thinking.

“(The impact) makes me so happy because I know going through school, you see a lot of people that couldn’t get a lunch because they didn’t have enough money. I think that made me so happy because it’s going to help a lot of people for a long time, help those kids that I grew up with that didn’t have enough food or didn’t have enough clothing.

“So that makes me so happy knowing that.”

That Heisman speech made a real difference. Burrow probably couldn’t have imagined how generous college football fans would be with their money when he stepped up to the stage in NYC.