Former Ohio State receiver to share inspirational message at breakfast

While the Resurrection Breakfast was not held this year, people can still hear an inspiring message.

John Allen and Joe Perri, two of the founders of the Greater Mansfield Area Resurrection Breakfast, have teamed with Storyside Church in Bellville to host former Ohio State wide receiver Kamryn Babb for a breakfast at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 18.

A consensus four-star recruit out of St. Louis, Babb came to Ohio State with high expectations. Five years and four ACL tears later, Babb had barely seen the field he once thought he would dominate.

An unwavering faith led the wide receiver back to the game and even into the end zone, creating one of the most magical moments in Buckeye history, when Babb scored his first and only career TD on Nov. 19, 2022, in a home game against Indiana, on a pass from C.J. Stroud.

Despite not being able to play much of the time, Babb was still voted a captain by his Buckeye teammates.

Perri said Babb will be the ideal speaker for the breakfast. He is studying at Liberty University to become a pastor.

Hoping for high school student-athletes to attend

"I think it's fantastic to have a young man like this," Perri said. "If he was just another athlete, we wouldn't have him."

Organizers have reached out to area athletic directors in hopes of getting a lot of high school student-athletes to attend the free event.

"I got to hear Kam speak last summer up at our church camp," Allen said. "Kam wants to share his never-give-up message with young people."

The Resurrection Breakfast is making a comeback of its own as Allen and Perri, who are 76 and 87, respectively, are looking for some new blood to take over the program. The group is sponsoring this event to cover the cost of the speaker.

For more than 30 years, the breakfast had taken place the Saturday before Easter.

"We talked to several churches (about taking over), but there was a conflict with Easter," Allen said. "We thought we couldn't do the same thing all the time."

That led organizers to have this breakfast at another time. They scheduled a 30-minute meeting with Storyside Church Pastor Micah Pelkey to make their pitch.

The half-hour meeting lasted two hours.

"They offered to do a light breakfast," Allen said. "They can hold 1,000 people in that place. We want to get as many as we can."

In previous years, the Resurrection Breakfast always was well-attended. It started out at the old Holiday Inn before moving to the Mid-Ohio Conference Center.

Guest speakers have included former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel (twice) and former Buckeye basketball star and current CBS commentator Clark Kellogg.

Storyside Church is located at 541 Ohio 97 West in Bellville.

For more information, call 419-524-7788.

mcaudill@gannett.com

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