Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It started with the goal of helping charities and other Western New York-based organizations during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Now it remains one of the largest annual charitable events in the region.
For a fourth-straight year, the "Give 716" initiative kicked off on Monday with the donation period opening at 7:16 p.m. ET and running through Tuesday, July 16 ("716 Day"), ending at 11:59 p.m. ET.
"It's hard to believe it's four years," said Rich Jureller, Director of Community Relations with the Buffalo Sabres. "I remember when we did it during the pandemic, that was where this whole idea was born from. It's gotten a lot easier, which is good. And it's a really nice time for us to do it too, because it falls in the middle of the offseason for both teams, and the workload in other areas is easier to manage. So we're really excited."
Michelle Roberts, Vice President of Community Impact with the Buffalo Bills, says this initiative is a culmination of a lot of effort across both Western New York professional sports teams, the nonprofits involved and corporate partners.
"We are really excited to be here once again. We think we have lined up a great deal of incentives and matching donations that our fans will really be excited about, so we really hope this helps raise some really much-needed funds for the participating charities," said Roberts in an interview with WBEN.
While the support from the corporate community from Day 1 has been greatly appreciated by the Sabres and Bills, Jureller says new companies and new people continue to come into the fold.
"We've always wanted this to be more than a Bills and Sabres thing. We want it to be sort of a Western New York community program, and we're seeing that more-and-more each year," Jureller said with WBEN.
This year will see a record number of charities participating in Give 716, with 575 charities hoping to raise money over course of 28 hours or so.
"There are so many important charities that are really doing critical work right here in Western New York, and as organizations and teams, we can only work directly with so many. This allows us to reach out," Roberts said. "We have been on webinars with them, we have provided graphics, we have been answering questions. We have been able to work with them in a really nice way to get to this point. It's really exciting to see the community come together too, and really have that focus of giving back. That is just pure good, wonderful, positive energy that is just feeding back into this community right now."
Over the last three years, the Give 716 initiative has raised $1.1 million each summer for a number of different organizations across the region. Jureller admits he would take that total once again, but he'd certainly love to achieve more.
"We know the need is out there, and these charities are wonderful. For us to get to know them and work with them in different capacities, and learn how really important they are for the people they serve, you want to help them as much as you can. So we'll see how that goes," Jureller said.
And while times are tough these days to contribute with any sort of charitable giving, Jureller and Roberts know that any sort of donation is appreciated. This is especially the case for anyone that donated $25 or more to any of the organizations taking place this year.
"One thing we've done every year is that we, every hour, the Bills' and the Sabres' Foundation awards three $500 grants throughout the campaign. So starting at 8 p.m. [Monday] and going through that 11 p.m. hour [Tuesday], any organization that receives $25 or more in donation is entered," Roberts explained. "Whether an organization receives one donation or 10 donations of $25 in a given hour, they're entered to win. And after every hour, it is randomly selected, they will populate, and they will be posted on Give716.org a $500 grant. So if someone happens to be up in the middle of the night, it's 4 in the morning and they want to make a donation, we encourage you to do that, because the chances are that much greater."
So what's at stake for incentives for those who contribute in the Give 716 initiative?
"We start at 7:16 p.m. with $50,000 in matching donations from the Sabres' and the Bills' Foundation. What that means is starting at 7:16, any donation made between then and 8 o'clock [Monday] has the potential to be matched," Jureller explained. "Now we limit it, we'll match up to $500, because we've always been worried about one big donor coming in and swooping up all the matching dollars. But that kicks us off at 8 o'clock.
"Sean and Jamie McDermott, once again this year, made a $20,000 donation, which will be used as matching money at 9 o'clock [Monday]."
There are also 100 Bills jerseys that are in play for donors, with the first 100 donors that donate $716 or more getting a chance to receive a Bills autographed jersey from a variety of different players. Then starting at 10 p.m. ET on Monday, 400 Sabres mini helmets will be available for top donors.
Then on Tuesday, the incentives for Western New Yorkers continue with the Give 716 initiative.
"Azuna Fresh has made some starter kit available at 6 a.m., so we start really early with those at 6 a.m., and then we end the evening with Bills mini helmets. And then in-between, we've got Bisons tickets, Bills preseason tickets, Sabres preseason tickets," Roberts explained. "We have an arts and culture hour, you can go to Give716.org for details, but passes to Explore & More, tickets to see Jason Aldean at Darien Lake. So there's a lot of different incentives there. We also have partnered with the Amherst Chamber of Commerce to offer Shop 716 gift cards. Those $25 gift cards are redeemable at any number of small businesses, about 1,000 small businesses throughout Western New York. It's a way to support your charity, and the small businesses that, again, are so critical to our region. So there's a ton of incentives almost every hour [Tuesday]."
Also among the items available for top donors includes some autographed lacrosse balls from the back-to-back NLL champion Buffalo Bandits.
One of the popular items every year with the Give 716 initiative is the t-shirts given out to the first number of donors to give $71.60.
"The first 3,000 people who donate $71.60 or more will receive a Give 716 t-shirt designed by 26 Shirts. Del Reid and his team, Josh [Benkelman] in particular over there, designed the shirt for us this year, it's always a really popular item. And it doesn't matter where your money goes. It's $71.60," Jureller said.
Also as part of 716 Day on Tuesday and the Give 716 initiative will be a pair of special meet ups with some notable Sabres Alumni.
"Tomorrow at KeyBank on Hertel Avenue from 12-1 p.m., Rob Ray, Jason Woolley and Larry Playfair will be there. So if anybody wants to come down and say hi to them, the first 50 people between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. who show that they donated to Give 716, any amount to any charity, will receive an autographed Ryan Miller hockey stick," Jureller said. "And then all three of those guys are going out to KeyBank at 2 o'clock out in West Seneca, and it'll be the same thing. The first 50 people there to show they donated will receive the Ryan Miller autographed stick, as well as a chance to get some stuff signed by those three."
More information about this year's initiative can be found at Give716.org. Fans can donate to a specific charity or multiple charities of their choosing, or they can donate to the general fund, which is then divided evenly amongst all the participating charities at the end of the event.