BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo sports teams and businesses are stepping up to help the City of Buffalo following the blizzard.
The Buffalo Bills, along with the NFL and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, have donated $300,000. Part of the money will go to storm relief efforts, with another portion helping the community recover in the coming months.
The Buffalo Sabres Foundation will donate $50,000 toward relief efforts, with $10,000 going to each of the following organizations: Buffalo City Mission, Eight Days of Hope, FeedMore WNY, Friends of Night People, and Salvation Army of Buffalo.
M&T Bank announced Thursday that it will contribute $200,000 in "charitable funding for the American Red Cross, FeedMore WNY and the Western New York Coalition for the Homeless."
Delaware North will donate $100,000 to community partners, which include Feedmore WNY.
"The Christmas storm of 2022 has been the most intensive storm that we have experienced here in Erie County," Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said Thursday in a statement.
"The loss of life, the amount of people that were in fear of losing loved ones, of not getting medications, or of freezing to death. And for the Buffalo Bills to step up and donate money that could go to feeding people that are basically at this point may be starving or may be homeless, is again showing what a great community partner the Buffalo Bills organization is."
Rich Jureller, president of the Buffalo Sabres Foundation, added: "We are very proud to lend our support to these outstanding organizations who are providing critical services and resources to our community as we continue to deal with the effects of this tragic storm. We are committed to doing our part in helping Western New York citizens, many of whom rely on these organizations for support, recover from this storm. We are grateful for the efforts of our first responders and heartbroken for those we have lost."