Steve: Kansas City Chiefs' games on TV include commercials featuring attorney Aaron Sachs with tight end Travis Kelce. They talk about the good work of Kelce's charity “Eighty-Seven & Running.” But it's not clear what the charity's mission is. Can you find out? — Gary Whitaker, Springfield
Here's the mission statement from the Eighty-Seven & Running website:
“Our mission is to empower disadvantaged youth to achieve success by providing resources and support to their communities and cultivating their talent in the areas of education, business, athletics, STEM, and the arts. We seek to change the outcomes of underserved youth in communities across the U.S. by creating access to opportunities, enrichment, and advancement.”
It appears that the main connection between Eighty-Seven & Running and Springfield is Springfield attorney Aaron Sachs, Mr. 777-7777, who lives and works here.
In fact, I went to the archives of the Springfield News-Leader and searched for the phrase “Eighty-Seven & Running” — using various spellings — and could not find a single match.
I've been a reporter in Springfield since 2012 and, until this week, have never come across a single Springfield news story that mentions “Eighty-Seven & Running.”
That's because the nonprofit's focus is the Kansas City area.
He was determined to help disadvantaged
The foundation was founded in 2015. Travis Kelce — who wears No. 87 on his jersey —has spent his career with the Chiefs, who selected him in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft. He founded Eighty-Seven & Running in 2015.
According to the website, he started the foundation because he saw in his own childhood in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, that many children didn’t have the same advantages he did. When he got to the NFL, he was determined to help disadvantaged children.
Kelce is now 34. He has been selected a Pro Bowl player nine times and is likely destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Some consider him the greatest tight end of all time. That does not include my son, who is convinced that title belongs to Rob Gronkowski.
If you haven't heard, Kelce also happens to have a famous girlfriend, her name is Taylor Swift. She sings.
Kelce, through his nonprofit, donated $100,000 recently to a GoFundMe page for two of the shooting victims in Kansas City who were at a parade Feb. 14 celebrating the Chiefs' victory in the Super Bowl. The victims are two girls — sisters. Swift also donated $100,000.
I reached out to Eighty-Seven & Running to ask if the organization had any involvement here in Springfield. I did not hear back by the time this story was published.
The annual tax returns of nonprofits that meet certain revenue thresholds are public and online. In the two most recent tax returns the total revenue for Eighty-Seven & Running has been $555,959 in (2021) and $365,607 (2022.)
The organization's address is in Rocky River, Ohio, near Cleveland. Kelce grew up nearby.
The executive director of Eighty-Seven & Running is Aaron M. Eanes. I called him but did not hear back. He does not take a salary at the nonprofit, but he and his twin brother's management company is paid about $185,000 a year by the nonprofit.
NY Times: Kelce has a ‘budding acting itch'
Aaron Eanes and his twin brother Andre are featured in a January story in the New York Times with the headline “The People Who Brought You Travis Kelce: A plan was hatched to make the football player ‘as famous as the Rock.' It began long before you might guess.”
The brothers own A & A Management, which manages Eighty-Seven & Running, as well as many other aspects of Kelce's life beyond the gridiron.
They manage Kelce's portfolio of 28 investments, according to the story. They are also helping Kelce pursue a career beyond football. According to the story:
“In March (2023), he hosted ‘Saturday Night Live.' He’s starred in seven national television commercials. The podcast he co-hosts with his brother, Jason, is among the most popular on Spotify. He launched a clothing line with his team.
” ... In the spring, he (Kelce) also became a client of Creative Artists Agency to feed his budding acting itch.
“The Eanes brothers coordinate it all, managing the surging flow of incoming traffic for a piece of Kelce Inc. Film scripts have been shared among the team. Game shows are a consideration. Maybe fewer commercials.”
They are not involved when Kelce negotiates his football contract with the Chiefs.
Nonprofit outreach primarily in Kansas City
The online tax forms do no spell out exactly where the nonprofit spends its money but a reading of the news releases on the website makes it clear that Eighty-Seven & Running is focused on good works in Kansas City. Kelce has occasionally worked through another nonprofit in Kansas City called Operation Breakthrough.
The one reference to Springfield I'm aware of is on Sachs' website.
It states that Sachs and Kelce partnered to help fund the digital arts studio at the Boys and Girls Club in Springfield.
After signing a four-year, $57 million extension one year, Kelce announced he used $45,000 from that deal to purchase a building in Kansas City that will allow teenagers to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
He donated $12,000 for food to the needy during the pandemic in the Kansas City area. He gave $20,000 to the Oak Grove School District in Oak Grove, 27 miles east of Kansas City.
Sachs, the reason we know Kelce so well here in Springfield, also has offices in Joplin and Columbia.
This is Answer Man column No. 64.
