Bills players and members of the team's coaching staff delivered 200 frozen Thanksgiving meals that they purchased for Western New York families to the Valley Community Center in Buffalo on November 21st. Each "meal" is designed to feed a family of 12.
The event, organized by John Gamble, Bills co-strength and conditioning coach, is in its second year in Buffalo. However, Gamble has been quietly helping his community with a similar event for years.
"I started this in Miami and it goes all the way back to the nineties," said Gamble. "We got to a point where we had done turkeys and stuffing and things like that, and I wanted to switch that to make meals. I thought meals would make more of an impact, help more families and it would be positive for all the people affected."
Some of the Bills players that joined Gamble included Dwan Edwards, Lee Smith, Alex Carrington, Joshua Nesbitt and Andra Davis.
The contents of each meal that were purchased and distributed to each family included a 15-20 pound frozen turkey, one sweet potato pie, one apple pie, 12 fresh baked rolls, five pounds of white potatoes, five pounds of sweet potatoes, three cans of corn, three cans of green beans, two boxes of stuffing, two cans of home-style gravy, two cans of cranberry sauce, one gallon of sweet tea and one gallon of fruit punch.
Through the partnership between the Buffalo Bills and the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, the 200 families were from the Valley Community Center and Old First Ward Community Center. The two community centers serve the majority of the South Buffalo community.
"I think this is a great turnout of the players and I'm enjoying seeing the people receiving their meals," said Gamble. "It's a great connection between players and community."
