OWINGS MILLS, Maryland – Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson expressed his gratitude on Monday to Buffalo Bills fans, whose donations amounted to $ 360,000 to one of their favorite charities.
“I thank Bills Mafia”, Jackson wrote on Twitter. “It means a lot not only to me, but also to those children.”
Support for Louisville’s “Blessings in a Backpack” chapter began Saturday night after Bills’ 17-3 victory over the Ravens in their AFC division playoff game, where the NFL MVP was eliminated at the end of the third room with a concussion.
On Monday, there were 13,600 individual donations from Bills fans, who are affectionately known as “Bills Mafia”.
“It’s been impressive – in the best possible way,” said Nikki Grizzle of “Blessings in a Backpack”.
Jackson, winner of the Heisman Trophy at the University of Louisville, raised $ 25,000 for charity through autographs in 2018. In less than a day after Buffalo’s playoff victory over Baltimore, Bills fans raised more than 10 times that amount.
The organization’s mission is to mobilize communities, individuals and resources to provide food on weekends for elementary school children across America who would otherwise be hungry. According to its website, the program can feed a child on weekends for a 38-week school year for $ 130.
This is the latest charity gesture from Bills fans. At the end of the 2017 regular season, when quarterback Andy Dalton led the Cincinnati Bengals to a victory that helped Bills qualify for the playoffs, they did something similar for Dalton.
Bills fans also donated en masse earlier this season to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital after it was announced that Buffalo’s quarterback Josh Allen’s grandmother had died. Donations to this cause have exceeded $ 1 million.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss contributed to this article.