Anthony Barr
Raise The Barr was established by Anthony Barr, an LA Native, UCLA All-American, 4X NFL Pro-Bowler, and starter for the Minnesota Vikings Defense. He is also a proud Loyola High School alumnus.
When Anthony Barr was about two years old, he lived in his grandparents’ house with his mom, Lori, who was working two jobs and going to school to further her education.
She’d get home at night after the morning shift, classes, and her other gig, probably spent. Mom and son had their nightly ritual.
“She used to work at a spaghetti restaurant,” Anthony Barr says, “and she had to wear these big old black combat boots. And it was our routine: she would come home and I would unlace her shoes for her, take them off, take her socks off and rub her feet a little bit. That was like our little moment. We hadn’t seen each other all day, so we just talked and caught up on the day.”
Anthony is committed to the whole-family, 2Gen movement, and strives to create opportunity through systems that can create economic mobility for single parent students and their families. Anthony sees himself in the faces of the children whose parents are working to change the trajectory of their lives, and he shares his story to serve as an example of what’s possible when community places value on family.