Buffalo Bills Community Programs

Play 60 Challenge

The Buffalo Bills are proud once again to partner with BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and the American Heart Association to run the Play 60 Challenge in schools throughout Western New York.

Play 60 is the NFL's youth health and fitness campaign, focused on making the next generation of youth the most active and healthy. The goal of the campaign is to encourage children to be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day. In addition to national outreach through PSA's and online programs, Play 60 is also implemented at the grassroots level through NFL's in-school, after-school and team-based programs all with a focus on the importance of physical fitness and healthy lifestyles.

The Buffalo Bills Play 60 Challenge sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and the American Heart Association incorporates several key elements such as in school activity kits for teachers, fitness planners for students and a four week fitness contest. The four week fitness contest includes a pep rally style kickoff event with over 2,500 students to get the children excited about physical fitness and a fitness party for over 300 students and teachers in the Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse. For more information on the Play 60 Challenge and the NFL Play 60 campaign please visit www.nflrush.com/health.

Click here for the 2011 Buffalo Bills Play 60 Challenge Photos.

Buffalo Bills Toyota Rookie Club

Established in 2002, the Buffalo Bills Toyota Rookie Club makes numerous appearances throughout the football season and enables the team's newest players the opportunity to get involved and learn more about the Western New York and Southern Ontario communities. The 2010 Buffalo Bills Toyota Rookie Club made a number of visits throughout Western New York and Canada including the Annual Hometown Huddle at the Buffalo Zoo, the North York YMCA in Toronto, Northwest Buffalo Community Center and the Buffalo Bills Holiday Party. Keep checking back through the season as the Toyota Rookie Club continues to make appearances around the community!

Click here for the 2010 Buffalo Bills Rookie Club Photos.

Fan Food Drive

The Buffalo Bills and Tops Friendly Markets team together to battle hunger in the Western New York area each season.  Buffalo Bills fans are asked to bring non-perishable food items and monetary donations to the stadium on the scheduled Fan Food Drive game day.  The Food Bank of Western New York’s mission is to feed the less fortunate in the community and these donations help their cause immensely. The Food Bank of WNY, through its network of over 400 member agencies in Western New York, distributes close to one million pounds of food each month. This equates to 1,180,000 meals provided to nearly 100,000 less fortunate individuals every month. Over the past decade, the Buffalo Bills have been involved in this program to raise awareness about this major community issue and to help provide the means for the Food Bank to continue their operation.  Donations can be sent or delivered directly to the Food Bank of WNY, by calling 716-852-1305, or by visiting www.foodbankwny.org.

Fuel Up to Play 60

The Buffalo Bills and Dairy Management Inc. will host the "Fuel Up to Play 60" fitness event on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 in the Bills Healthy Zone Fieldhouse for nearly 200 students from the Buffalo Public Schools. "Fuel Up to Play 60" is part of a national initiative with the National Football League, National Dairy Council and the National Football League Players Association.

Bills running back C.J. Spiller is this year's Buffalo Bills spokesperson for the program and will be at the event to speak to the children about the importance of nutrition and being active for 60 minutes a day.

Fuel Up to Play 60 is a fun, interactive program that allows students to decide how to make their school an even healthier place. Students can put their ideas and plans into action to help everyone in their school eat healthy and get active. For more information on the Fuel Up to Play 60 program please visit www.fueluptoplay60.com.

Hometown Huddle

Since 1999, NFL teams have participated in a variety of hands-on community service projects, known collectively as Hometown Huddle. The NFL-United Way Hometown Huddle is a league-wide day of service designed to bring awareness and impact to the issue of youth health and fitness. During the Hometown Huddle, NFL players, coaches and leadership participate in a variety of youth fitness projects in different NFL cities across the country on the same day.

This year the Buffalo Bills Rookie Club joined the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County and the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council Inc. to celebrate the 12th Annual Hometown Huddle at the Buffalo Zoo on October 5th. The Hometown Huddle consisted of three interactive stations- a nutrition program where students learned how to make healthy snacks with dairy and fruit, a health and wellness program called "Jump with Jill" (a rock n' roll approach to nutrition to revolutionize the way kids learn about health) and a Mini-Recharge fitness station where children were led through football-themed fitness drills.

Back to Football Friday

2010 was the first year for the NFL Back to Football Friday program which was held in every NFL market on Friday, September 10th. To celebrate the return of the Buffalo Bills season, September 10th was officially proclaimed Back to Football Friday in Buffalo and Erie County by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and County Executive Chris Collins. Businesses were encouraged to hold football themed events, decorate their offices and wear the red, white and blue of the Buffalo Bills. Schools in the Buffalo area were also encouraged to hold similar events that focused on health and wellness and incorporated the NFL Play 60 program which encourages children to be active 60 minutes a day. The school with the most creativity and school spirit was chosen by the NFL as the Buffalo Bills "Play 60 Super School." The "Play 60 Super School" was awarded a $10,000 grant for their health and wellness initiatives as well as a visit from Buffalo Bills players.

Blood Drive

Buffalo Bills safety George Wilson led a team effort to donate blood on September 14th and November 16th in the Paul Maguire Club at Ralph Wilson Stadium as the Bills and American Red Cross hosted their Annual Blood Drives.

Wilson was the spokesperson for the annual event and appeared at each blood drive to meet with fans and sign autographs for all of the donors in attendance. In addition, Steve Johnson, Andy Levitre, Eric Wood, Torell Troup, Kyle Williams, Jills cheerleaders and Billy Buffalo also made specials appearances to support the blood donors.

Over 500 units of blood were collected between the two drives, ultimately saving over 1,500 lives. Presenting donors received a commemorative gift and were entered in random drawings for many great prizes. For more information on the American Red Cross in Western New York please visit www.buffaloredcross.org/.

Click here for the 2010 Buffalo Bills Blood Drive Photos.

Touchdown for Teachers

In 2009, the Buffalo Bills and M&T Bank partnered to create the "Touchdown for Teachers" program to honor teachers for outstanding service to their schools and communities. As a part of the program, finalists are selected by a panel of community members and school officials, with the assistance of the Buffalo Bills and M&T Bank. Honorees are chosen based on their school and community involvement, degree of positive impact on their school or community and their demonstrated commitment to education.

Prior to the November 28, 2010 Buffalo Bills vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game, the Bills hosted the five "Touchdown for Teachers" finalists on the Ralph Wilson Stadium Field. All of the finalists received tickets to the game and a custom NFL Wilson Football. During the game, Bethany Maclam of Roy-Hart Middle School was recognized as the 2010 grand prize winner on the Diamond Vision scoreboard for her extraordinary efforts.

Kid's Escaping Drugs

The Buffalo Bills, Verizon Wireless and 97 Rock teamed up to support the 2010 Kids Escaping Drugs Campaign. Buffalo Bills players Fred Jackson, Bryan Scott, C.J. Spiller, Chris Kelsay and Kyle Williams signed autographs at the Verizon Wireless Boulevard Mall location on Tuesday, September 21st to benefit the Kids Escaping Drugs Renaissance House. With a $25 donation, fans received a Limited Edition Bills poster and an autograph from each player. The Renaissance House offers a safe and supportive environment where adolescents can recover, learn responsibility and re-enter the community with the tools to live a drug-free lifestyle. For more information on the Kids Escaping Drugs program please visit http://www.ked.org/mainKED.html.

Gift of Warmth

2010 marked the 25th Anniversary of the Gift of Warmth Campaign, done in partnership with M&T Bank and the Salvation Army. Fans were encouraged to bring new warm clothing and monetary donations to Ralph Wilson Stadium on November 14th prior to the Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions game. Over $2,000 was collected on game day to benefit the Salvation Army. Buffalo Bills linebacker Reggie Torbor served as the 2010 Gift of Warmth spokesperson and visited the Southgate Plaza M&T Bank Branch to help raise awareness for the campaign, sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans on November 30th.

WNY Girls in Sports

Mary Wilson, wife of Buffalo Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson, founded the WNY Girls in Sports program in 2004 to inspire, educate and motivate young girls on how sports can positively influence their lives. In 2010, approximately 200 volunteers from the University at Buffalo, Canisius College, Niagara University, Upstate NY Jr. Golf, Sportsplex, Buffalo Soccer Club and the Niagara Frontier Jr. Olympic Volleyball Club took part in coaching and educating the girls at the WNY Girls in Sports Clinics in the Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse. In partnership with the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County and the Buffalo Public Schools, these interactive sports clinics gave female students, ages 9-12, from different "Closing the Gap" schools the opportunity to participate in and learn about a number of different sports including tennis, volleyball, soccer, golf, rowing, ice hockey, double dutch and lacrosse.

Click here for the 2010 Buffalo Bills WNY Girls in Sports.

Community Ticket Program

Each year Buffalo Bills players and coaches purchase season tickets and donate them to various Western New York community groups and organizations of their choice. Guests are given game tickets and food and beverage vouchers to each Bills home game throughout the season. In recognition of the groups and the coaches' and players' donation, there are banners along the Ralph Wilson Stadium ring wall and an announcement welcoming the guests on the Diamond Vision scoreboard each game. Over the past 5 years Buffalo Bills players and coaches have donated over 9,000 tickets to local community groups.

HopeLine

Verizon Wireless and Buffalo Bills linebacker Andra Davis teamed up for the 10th Anniversary of the HopeLine Collection. The HopeLine Collection challenges fans to make a difference in the lives of domestic violence victims by donating their no longer used wireless phones to the HopeLine Foundation. Andra Davis met fans, gave away complimentary posters and signed autographs on October 6th at the Verizon Wireless kiosk at the Galleria Mall. Davis also reminded fans to bring their used cell phones to the Bills home game on October 10th vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars. All phones that are donated are either recycled or refurbished and sold. Proceeds from the sale of the donated phones are used to purchase wireless phones for domestic violence victims in emergency or threatening situations or used as grant money to donate to domestic violence safe havens. With the help of the Buffalo Bills and Verizon Wireless, over 500 phones were donated to the HopeLine Foundation in 2010.

Allstate Pledge to X the Text

The Buffalo Bills and Allstate will team up in an effort to reduce teen deaths and other distracted driver injuries by rewarding teens who pledge not to text and drive. For making this pledge, you will be entered to win prizes such as two (2) tickets for one home game, an autographed football, or even a meet and greet with a Buffalo Bills player! Visit http://www.buffalobills.com/fans/contests-and-promotions/text-pledge.html to make your pledge.