KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs surprised Deidre Anderson-Barbee with free tickets to Super Bowl LVIII during the Christmas Day game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
It was a game the Chiefs lost, dropping the defending champions record to nine wins and six losses. Some fans thought dreams of a repeat Super Bowl victory were over.
“I felt it in my bones. When I got those tickets on the field, I said, ‘Why would I go to the Super Bowl and not see my hometown?’ I can’t say I was the predictor of it all, but I believed,” Anderson-Barbee said.
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Her belief paid off. Now, when she attends the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, she’ll watch the Chiefs defend their title against the San Francisco 49ers.
“There’s something about the Chiefs, the Royals, the Current, the Sporting KC — all of our sports teams locally,” Anderson-Barbee said. “They give us something to get excited about. When they’re winning, we’re excited, we’re hopeful. It is a time of hope and we all have to remember to remain hopeful all the time.”
The Chiefs gave Anderson-Barbee Super Bowl tickets as part of the Inspire Change Award they presented her at the game.
They chose her as the award winner for her work improving access to child care.
Anderson-Barbee launched Starting Early, an advocacy agency pushing for improvements to early childhood education in the Kansas City region.
Just like she is hopeful for a Chiefs victory, Anderson-Barbee is hopeful she can find a winning solution for child care.
“When we ensure that our youngest among us have that firm foundation, their literacy rates are higher, their graduation rates are higher, violence goes down,” she said.
Anderson-Barbee will use part of her weekend in Las Vegas networking and talking to everyone she meets about child care.
If you want to join the conversation, join her by emailing deidre.andersonbarbee@startingearlykc.org
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