Bills, NFL foundations donating $400,000 to relief efforts in Buffalo following shooting at supermarket
The Buffalo Bills Foundation and the NFL Foundation are teaming up to support the Buffalo community in wake of the mass shooting that left 10 people dead.
A white gunman in military gear opened fire in a local grocery store Saturday located in a historically Black neighborhood, and carried out a premeditated attack.
The foundations are donating $400,000. Buffalo Together Community Response Fund will be receiving $200,000 to address "immediate and long-term needs" in the community, "including systemic issues that have marginalized communities of color."
The other $200,000 will be donated directly to the Buffalo Bills Foundation to help multiple nonprofits working on emergency response efforts to meet the current needs of Buffalo East Side residents.
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"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 Buffalo Bills Foundation is donating $200,000 to support our local response efforts to the racist attack on the East Side.
The NFL Foundation will be matching that with an additional $200,000.— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 18, 2022
Buffalo Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told ABC News Monday that if the 18-year-old suspect was not stopped outside of the store, he would have continued his rampage, stating, "he had plans to continue driving down Jefferson Ave to shoot more black people ... possibly go to another store (or) location."
Our community needs you more than ever Bills Mafia.
Here’s how you can help after Saturday’s racist attack on Buffalo’s East Side: https://t.co/0RY93n8y8e pic.twitter.com/cVAJyoa5mi— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 17, 2022
"This is just the beginning of the efforts of the Buffalo Bills and we are committed to doing more for the community as the days and weeks go by," the team wrote in a statement.
Contact Analis Bailey at aabailey@usatoday.com or on Twitter @analisbailey.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bills, NFL foundations donating $400,000 to relief efforts in Buffalo
