How Rashford's childhood has driven £20m crusade to feedkids during Covid crisis
More than most footballers, Marcus Rashford could have been forgiven for using the coronavirus lockdown to focus on himself.
He could have concentrated solely on his rehabilitation from a double back fracture – the first serious injury of his career – that threatened to end his season at Manchester United and potentially his involvement for England in Euro 2020 before both were put on hold.
The global pandemic has given Rashford time he could never have expected for the injury to heal and for him to regain the fitness lost since he last played against Wolves in the FA Cup on January 15.
Working on a Wattbike in his gym at home under the remote supervision of United's medical and coaching staff, the 22-year-old striker is on the road to recovery and expects to step up his rehab early next month.
Away from the gym, there have been the obligatory TV box sets and video games to help stave off boredom during the lockdown. But Rashford is putting his time to much better use as well.
On Monday, he confirmed that his efforts to raise money to feed under-privileged schoolchildren during the pandemic has just hit the £20million mark. For a young man born and raised in the tough Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe, it is an issue very close to home.
'I know the problem is for real,' Rashford told The Times earlier this month. 'There was a breakfast club I could go to at the school that was free.
'I used to have school meals and a little snack in an after-school club, there were 30-40 kids in that, and that was all free, but that would be it until my mum came from home. She'd finish work at about 6pm, have to get the bus home, so I wouldn't see her until 7.30pm and then she'd start cooking straight away. It's a long time.'
Rashford realised that children like him who relied on free meals were going hungry while schools closed down due to the virus, and wanted to make sure they were still being fed.
He used his profile to seek donations, contacted companies about surplus products and threw his support behind food distribution charity FareShare.
'There are people in worse situations than I was in as a kid,' he added. 'They are not even getting that second meal at home, so it was something I wanted to help with.
'I was aware of the problem, but not how big. The number of people not being fed is ridiculous. It was close to one million children who were helped every week by FareShare. When I saw the numbers it was quite shocking. It was about seeing if we could all come together and keep trying to help through this difficult time.'
This was more than a case of a footballer putting his name to a charity. Rashford made a personal donation and began reading books on food storage and distribution to make sure the aid reaches those most in need. He also secured the support of several supermarket giants.
'At first, the donations were going kind of slow,' he said this week. 'I put a bit of money in myself, it was at like £50,000, £60,000, and then I just remember two days after that the total was something like £140,000.
'Then a few weeks later it was £6m or £7m when the likes of Tesco, Co-op and Asda came in. Literally, just two or three days ago, it reached £20m.'
Rashford has clearly matured off the pitch just as much as he has on it since breaking through at United in February 2016.
Many footballers support charities and deserve great credit for doing so. For instance, Rashford's United team-mate Juan Mata pioneered the Common Goal campaign, funded by players who give up one per cent of their earnings, long before pay-cuts and wage deferrals in football became a hot topic during the current pandemic.
But Rashford has taken great concern in focusing on local issues close to his heart. Last year he enlisted the help of department store Selfridges to back his In-The-Box campaign aimed at providing comfort boxes of essential items for the city's homeless at Christmas.
'I'm extremely proud of where I'm from,' he said. 'I love this city and appreciate all of the support the city has given me over the years. So this is my opportunity to help out those that might not otherwise have the best Christmas.'
No doubt Rashford will continue to use his profile to benefit good causes. At a time when footballers and their wealth are coming under scrutiny like never before, it is to be applauded.
He could have concentrated solely on his rehabilitation from a double back fracture – the first serious injury of his career – that threatened to end his season at Manchester United and potentially his involvement for England in Euro 2020 before both were put on hold.
The global pandemic has given Rashford time he could never have expected for the injury to heal and for him to regain the fitness lost since he last played against Wolves in the FA Cup on January 15.
Working on a Wattbike in his gym at home under the remote supervision of United's medical and coaching staff, the 22-year-old striker is on the road to recovery and expects to step up his rehab early next month.
Away from the gym, there have been the obligatory TV box sets and video games to help stave off boredom during the lockdown. But Rashford is putting his time to much better use as well.
On Monday, he confirmed that his efforts to raise money to feed under-privileged schoolchildren during the pandemic has just hit the £20million mark. For a young man born and raised in the tough Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe, it is an issue very close to home.
'I know the problem is for real,' Rashford told The Times earlier this month. 'There was a breakfast club I could go to at the school that was free.
'I used to have school meals and a little snack in an after-school club, there were 30-40 kids in that, and that was all free, but that would be it until my mum came from home. She'd finish work at about 6pm, have to get the bus home, so I wouldn't see her until 7.30pm and then she'd start cooking straight away. It's a long time.'
Rashford realised that children like him who relied on free meals were going hungry while schools closed down due to the virus, and wanted to make sure they were still being fed.
He used his profile to seek donations, contacted companies about surplus products and threw his support behind food distribution charity FareShare.
'There are people in worse situations than I was in as a kid,' he added. 'They are not even getting that second meal at home, so it was something I wanted to help with.
'I was aware of the problem, but not how big. The number of people not being fed is ridiculous. It was close to one million children who were helped every week by FareShare. When I saw the numbers it was quite shocking. It was about seeing if we could all come together and keep trying to help through this difficult time.'
This was more than a case of a footballer putting his name to a charity. Rashford made a personal donation and began reading books on food storage and distribution to make sure the aid reaches those most in need. He also secured the support of several supermarket giants.
'At first, the donations were going kind of slow,' he said this week. 'I put a bit of money in myself, it was at like £50,000, £60,000, and then I just remember two days after that the total was something like £140,000.
'Then a few weeks later it was £6m or £7m when the likes of Tesco, Co-op and Asda came in. Literally, just two or three days ago, it reached £20m.'
Rashford has clearly matured off the pitch just as much as he has on it since breaking through at United in February 2016.
Many footballers support charities and deserve great credit for doing so. For instance, Rashford's United team-mate Juan Mata pioneered the Common Goal campaign, funded by players who give up one per cent of their earnings, long before pay-cuts and wage deferrals in football became a hot topic during the current pandemic.
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But Rashford has taken great concern in focusing on local issues close to his heart. Last year he enlisted the help of department store Selfridges to back his In-The-Box campaign aimed at providing comfort boxes of essential items for the city's homeless at Christmas.
'I'm extremely proud of where I'm from,' he said. 'I love this city and appreciate all of the support the city has given me over the years. So this is my opportunity to help out those that might not otherwise have the best Christmas.'
No doubt Rashford will continue to use his profile to benefit good causes. At a time when footballers and their wealth are coming under scrutiny like never before, it is to be applauded.
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