Former University of Wyoming Cowboy Josh Allen is partnering with Nike to donate $100,000 to a Buffalo, New York, children’s hospital that has a wing named for his grandmother.
Allen and Nike announced their pledge on Monday to donate $100,000 to help with patient treatment at the Oishei Children’s Hospital.
A video released by Nike showed Allen talking about falling in love with Buffalo after his first visit to the city and how supportive the “Bills Mafia” has been toward him.
“People were like, ‘You don’t want to be in Buffalo, it snows too much, it’s this, it’s that,'” Allen said in the video. “And then I got here for my visit, and I’m like, ‘This is exactly where I want to be.'”
Allen’s grandmother died right before a Bills game against Seattle in November 2020, emotionally crushing the quarterback. More than 27,000 fans donated $17 each (in honor of Allen’s jersey number) to the Oishei Children’s Hospital, raising more than $1.4 million. The money was used to open the hospital’s “Patricia Allen” wing last month.
Allen was present at the emotional ceremony to dedicate the wing while his family attended via Zoom.
Hospital administrators read a plaque on the wall which described how the donations — a completely organic effort by Bills fans — began.
“After the Buffalo Bills were victorious over Seattle on November 8, 2020, fans discovered that quarterback Josh Allen played the game after just losing his grandmother, Patrica Allen,” the plaque said. “In support, fans began donating in $17 increments to Oishei Children’s Hospital.”
Allegra Jaros, president of Oishei Children’s Hospital, said she was aware that Allen’s family and community had a big impact on who he was, mentioning his “courage, determination, and focus on winning.”
“All of that has brought unmeasurable benefit to us here at Oishei Children’s Hospital,” Jaros told Allen at the time.
