The Buffalo Bills Foundation and NFL Foundation are combining to donate $400,000 to local response efforts following last Saturday's shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.
The Bills announced that a combined $200,000 will go to the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, which will address topics including 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," Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, said in a statement. "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 remaining $200,000 will be donated directly from the Bills foundation to nonprofits working on emergency response efforts to address needs of Buffalo's East Side community.
The Bills organization, including general manager Brandon Beane, head coach Sean McDermott, quarterback Josh Allen and receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis, paid their respects at the shooting's memorial on Wednesday and spent time handing out food and other supplies to the Buffalo East Side community.
Members from the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, also owned by Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, also volunteered Wednesday.
"We met on Monday and this was important," Beane said, per ESPN.com. "Being here physically, coming to the community and being with our brothers and sisters at a time of need is important to us all. We feel this more, they feel this more than just writing a check."
A white, 18-year-old gunman in military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire Saturday afternoon at Tops Friendly Market, killing 10 people and wounding three others. Most of the victims were Black.
Bills safety Micah Hyde donated a portion of the proceeds from his foundation's charity softball game Sunday to the families of the victims, and money from a silent auction at the game will also go to victims' families.
Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas also told The Associated Press this week he and several former teammates are coming together in Buffalo this week to help support families of the shooting victims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
