Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Comments like "Fins up. You got this!" and "Stay strong. Fins fans behind you," are being commented on a gofundme page for 12-year-old Buffalo Bills fan, Sophie LaBorde, a girl diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer.
Buffalo Bills fans are typically known to give back, even to their rivals! Now, Miami Dolphins fans are paying it forward as well by giving donations to LaBorde for her health.
Thanks to the power of a social media post on Twitter, Miami Dolphins fan Jacob Layman helped spread awareness to the campaign by reposting the initial announcement tweet via Twitter, calling upon Miami football fans to donate.
Layman says he was made aware of the cause when a Twitter friend commented on the original post.
"When Tua [Tugovailoa] got hurt and got his concussion during the Bengals game, I heard about Bills Mafia fans just pouring in donations to the Tua Foundation. I thought that was incredible, seeing rival fan bases stretch across that line, just to help each other out. It's more than just football. So seeing that [post], that was the first thing that I thought of and I was just lucky to have a few bucks to give. I quote tweeted it from there and challenged Dolphins Twitter to pay it forward," Layman said.
Layman had no idea that his repost would get so many responses. In 24 hours time, he watch the fundraising page grow from $13,000 to about $23,000, seeing comments from his fellow fans along the way, "I did not expect that in the slightest. It's been such a pleasant surprise."
"On Twitter, fans fight against fans. So it was awesome to see a united front towards such a great cause," Layman adds. "It's not even just Dolphins fans, I saw Jets fans and saw Patriots fans [donate too], other teams to pouring in [donations] so shout out to them. It's just really amazing to see fans come together. I definitely look forward to our next bout against the Bills."
The Bills Mafia has also come together to show strong support. Del Reid, founder of 26 Shirts in Buffalo and co-founder of the Bills Mafia says that they have a Bills Halloween themed t-shirt with a portion of the purchase helping fund Sophie's campaign.
"Every Monday morning 26 Shirts launches a new design that helps a new family in need. They are two weeks campaigns and this past Monday, we launched a shirt called 'The Pigskin King'. For every shirt that is sold over the next two weeks, $8 is going to be donated to Sophie's family," Reid says.
Reid says that Buffalo giving back is who we are and social media plays a unique role in spreading awareness to the cause, "Buffalo is called the City of Good Neighbors for a reason. It really is heart of the social fabric here in Western New York that we give and we are so community minded, as a community that just spills over into everything, including our love for our local sports teams. With the advent of social media, I think it's pretty cool now that our community can lead the way in a public fashion so that we display this ability to crowdfund so easily among people that share a common interest that all of a sudden now you have Dolphins fans, who are coming alongside and joining the effort."
As of Wednesday evening, 466 donations have been made on the webpage, now totalling over $23,850.