BUFFALO, N.Y. — Western New York service providers in fields such as education, health care and law enforcement announced the formation of the new Homeless Awareness Task Force.
It was created in response to the death of a well-known homeless man named Larry during a blizzard last winter.
The new task force is launching with the "see someone, help someone" campaign as a way for Western New Yorkers to help anyone in need.
Lawrence Bierl, also known as Larry, died in January of 2019 at a bus stop during a snowstorm. Many people knew Larry because he frequented a Tim Hortons in Williamsville.
At the time, a GoFundMe crowd-funding account was created by Martha Mayo to support his family. It accumulated more than 300 donations in one day.
"Donations started pouring in immediately and within 24 hours we received over $8,000 in donations" Mayo said.