Buffalo Bills, Sabres, World Central Kitchen arrive to lift a bereaved community

Buffalo celebrity chef Darian Bryan offered his two kitchens to cook enough fettuccini Alfredo for 750 people, and the majority of the Buffalo Bills' players and coaches arrived in tour buses to serve lunch to residents, whose Tops supermarket has been closed since a gunman killed 10 and wounded three people there Saturday. Members of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team were also on the scene.

The Bills emerged from the buses wearing black T-shirts that said “Choose Love” and holding bouquets of flowers to lay at a memorial with 10 dove-shaped signs bearing the names of the victims. They walked in silence for a city block while neighbors gaped and, in some cases, clapped, and police lifted crime scene tape to let them through.

After several minutes of somber silence and a prayer by Pastor Kenny Simmons of Cold Spring Bible Chapel, they went back to the WCK tents and started dishing out pasta. 

Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said he lives about 20 minutes away from the area and has shopped in that Tops store.

“It’s definitely personal,” he said. “We live here and a lot of people on our team are African-American, and this neighborhood was targeted because of being an African-American community. So they targeted me and my people.

"This hurt bad because Buffalo is the closest thing to my actual home. This is a regular local Tops, and I’m Black. I could have been targeted, too. This was an attack, and it’s upsetting that in 2022, stuff is going in a worse direction when it should be getting better.”

The Buffalo Bills Foundation and NFL Foundation announced Wednesday that each will donate $200,000. But it was also critical for the Bills to be there in person. Quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs were among those who brought flowers to the memorials.

"What happened here, it's disgusting, despicable," Allen said. "There's so many different words you can use, and none of them are nice. We're here to brighten people's days and try to help move past this, and share the grief with our community and let them know that we care, and we want to hold that with them."

Taiwan Jones, a running back and team captain, helped organize the Bills’ visit. He had a previous relationship with Candles in the S.U.N., a nonprofit that provides multi-faceted community support to underserved neighborhoods in Buffalo. He reached out to ask how he and his team could help.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that all Bills, Sabres and Bandits players who were in the region came to volunteer. Mayor Byron Brown noted some players flew in for the event, including Diggs. 

“We all feel for these families,” Jones said. “A lot of us, we come from inner cities like this, so we’re touched as well. We just want these families – I can’t imagine how they feel, but we want them to know that they have our support.”

Dawkins said seeing people’s eyes light up when the Bills arrived made a difference.

“I see the faces and I see the smiles and I see what our presence here is doing, and it’s a good thing,” he said. “Even though they know most guys come from different states and different backgrounds, this community has accepted us as family. They welcome us with open arms, and we welcome them with open arms. We’re pushing through today for them.”

Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo, who was visibly choked up, said he plans to be back to help WCK serve meals in the coming days.

WCK said it plans to provide 2,250 hot meals a day for at least the next week at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Utica Street, then it will reassess.

“When you see the site where this occurred, there’s a heaviness about the area right now,” Okposo said. “But I think that the culture of Buffalo and the Bills and Sabres, all the sports teams here, and how intertwined and ingrained we are with the community, just being here to support people has brought some life back.”

The combination of their favorite athletes and World Central Kitchen showing up Wednesday, one day after President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited, made people feel visible, heard and cared for, said neighbor Lois Adams.

Adams heard about the sidewalk kitchen and came to pick up lunch. Besides a to-go container of pasta, grilled bread and salad, she left with a big bag of produce and a selfie with Allen and other players.

“This is my Tops. 14208 is my ZIP code,” Adams said. “So by them being here, they are letting me know that they may not live on my street or in my neighborhood, but they care enough to come support us. They care enough about what’s going on in our lives to be here for us.”

She noted the message on their shirts. “Choose love – it’s the same as Sunday church,” she said. “If everyone chose love, this wouldn’t have taken place.”

Bills general manager Brandon Beane said the Bills intend to be present in the community through the long healing process.

“Being here physically, coming to the community and just being with our brothers and sisters in a time of need is important to us all,” he told reporters. “You feel this more, they feel this more, than just simply writing a check.”

“This is not going to leave people’s lives in a month or a year,” he added. “This is a lasting thing, and we’ve got to do our part.”