Bills coaches, players show up as a team to help Buffalo heal after mass shooting

On Wednesday, several Buffalo Bills coaches and players — including head coach Sean McDermott, quarterback Josh Allen, and receiver Stefon Diggs — showed up at Buffalo’s Jefferson Avenue to serve food to members of the community and show support in the wake of last Saturday’s racist mass shooting in which 10 people were killed, and three more were injured.

The shooting happened at the Tops supermarket in a part of the city more populated by Black citizens. Gunman Payton Gendron, 18 posted a racist manifesto online before opening fire at a Tops Supermarkets in Buffalo. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a hate crime, as Gendron traveled 230 miles from his hometown to a predominantly Black neighborhood. Gendron’s vitriol was based primarily on the racist theory that white people are being replaced by people of color — a disgusting and ridiculous trope frequently echoed by people in high places like Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican.

Gendron stated in his document that his goals were to “kill as many Blacks as possible,” “avoid dying,” and “spread ideals.”

The Bills were more interested in spreading ideals of love, recovery, and togetherness.

In addition, the The Buffalo Bills Foundation and NFL Foundation have combined to donate $400,000 to Buffalo’s East Side community heal in the wake of Saturday’s targeted attack against the Black community.

A combined $200,0000 will go to the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund. This new fund is a collaborative philanthropic effort across the region that will address the immediate and long-term needs in our community, including systemic issues that have marginalized communities of color.

“On behalf of the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, we are most grateful for the generous contributions from the Buffalo Bills Foundation and the National Football League Foundation that will allow us to create real change and emerge from the darkness of this heinous act,” said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. “This Fund is a partnership to build upon the collective desire to take action and to work together as a community to address immediate needs, long-term rebuilding and systemic issues that continue to marginalize communities of color.”

The other $200,000 will be donated directly from the Buffalo Bills Foundation to various nonprofits working on the emergency response efforts to address the immediate needs of Buffalo’s East Side residents. As an example of one of these efforts, we have partnered with Buffalo Go Green, African Heritage Food Co-op, the Resource Council of WNY, and UB Food Lab to arrange home food deliveries to those unable to come to a food distribution site.