The Buffalo Bills have been one of the feel good stories of the Pandemic, and their long suffering loyal fans took fandom up a notch this week…assisting the cause of another teams quarterback which was found…on Instagram or TikTok? Nope, on Reddit
For those who don’t know, Blessings in a Backpack is a charity that mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. They are a national organization made up of seven regional chapters and more than 1,000 volunteer-driven programs. With a target of $130 to feed one child on the weekends for one 38-week school year through the Blessings in a Backpack program nourished kids are ready to learn.
And they are the charity of choice of the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, who suffered a concussion during Buffalo’s 17-3 win over Baltimore Saturday night. So what did Bills fans, the Bills Mafia do?
They utilized Reddit to figure out Jackson’s favorite charity, and donations for the organization came pouring in.
Where did it end up? As of Monday, Buffalo fans were among the majority of the 10,400 individual donors, topping $265,000 in donations. Given the fact that only just over 6,000 fans were permitted at socially distanced Bills Stadium on Saturday, the number and the cause celebre is even more impressive.
And on Redditt? How old school Buffalo is that? What it really is is a payoff of sorts for the NFL and its teams, who this season have realized the amount of fans who are using the platform on a daily basis to share opinions and information and have amped up a partnership to connect and provide content to fans whose focus is on the longstanding, and sometimes underutilized, text based platform.
So there you have it. A team deep on tradition, with fans in a celebratory mode, boosted a worthwhile cause of an opponent down on his luck, with a nod to an older school media platform.
Score one for the Bills, Blessings In A Backpack, and the still substantial power of Reddit.
