OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on Monday expressed his gratitude to the Buffalo Bills fan base, whose donations have reached $ 360,000 to one of his favorite charities.
“Thank You Bills Mafia,” Jackson wrote on Twitter. “It means a lot not only to me, but to those kids as well.”
The outpouring of support for Louisville’s “Blessings in a Backpack” chapter began Saturday night, following the Bills’ 17-3 win over the Ravens visitors in their first-round playoff game. AFC, during which the current NFL MVP was ruled out in the late third quarter with a concussion.
As of Monday, there have been 13,600 individual donations from Bills fans, affectionately known as “Bills Mafia.”
“It’s been overwhelming, in the best way possible,” Nikki Grizzle said of “Blessings in a Backpack.”
Jackson, winner of the Heisman Trophy at the University of Louisville, had raised $ 25,000 for charity through autograph signings in 2018. In less than a day after Buffalo’s playoff win over Baltimore, Bills fans had collected more than 10 times this amount.
The organization’s mission is to mobilize communities, people, and resources to provide food on weekends to elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. According to its website, the program can feed a child on weekends during 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 win that helped the Bills qualify for the playoffs, they did something similar for Dalton.
Bills fans also made massive donations earlier this season at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital after it was announced that Buffal quarterback Josh Allen’s grandmother had died. Donations for this cause overshadowed $ 1 million.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss contributed to this article.