Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR 550) - What started as an initiative to help charities and organizations during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has now turned into one of the largest annual charitable events in Western New York.
The "Give 716" initiative has returned for a third-straight year with festivities getting underway on Sunday, July 16 ("716 Day") at 7:16 p.m. ET, and continuing through Tuesday, July 18, ending at 7:16 a.m. ET.
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In the first two years of the event, the initiative raised just over $1.1 million in each year for a number of different organizations and charities, both big and small across Western New York.
"We certainly, the Sabres and the Bills, do a lot of work in the community throughout the year, but there's no way we'd ever have the time or resources to meet as many as there are participating in the campaign. It's taught us a lot about so much of the great work being done in the community, and to get a chance to meet these folks, it's amazing," said Rich Jureller, Vice President of Community Relations for the Buffalo Sabres, as well as President of the Sabres Foundation. "It's amazing how many there are, and all the work they're doing for people who really need it. So for us, that's a big part of it.
"All the money goes out into the community. This is not a fundraiser for us or the Bills. We're just trying to do our part. Times are still hard, and raising money is difficult. For us to be able to help in this way, it feels right, and the results have been there and the feedback has been really positive. We're thrilled to be doing it again."
This year will see nearly 540 Western New York charities taking part in "Give 716", and there is a wide variety of organizations for people to donate to all within the region.
"It's anywhere from animal charities to organizations that serve sick kids, to youth organizations," Jureller said. The website's really nice, you can search by category. If you're not necessarily sure who you want to give your money to, you can search by name. But this is the most we've had. I think Year 1, we were just over 430, and now we're at 538. And they're big, they're small, they're volunteer-run, some have full-time staff. It's a great mix. And one of the things we've been proud of is we've seen a lot of the small groups do really, really well in the first two years."
When the event began in 2021, COVID-19 was still strickening the world, resulting in many of the groups taking part hurting financially and in need of assistance. Jureller says it was an inability to help in a way that they may have been able to in normal times that helped jump start this initiative.
"Looking at it, here we are in Year 3, it's understanding that, especially for a lot of these groups, they're small charities or volunteer-based charities, and they don't have the staffing or the resources to go out and fundraise the way some of the others do," he said. "The feedback from them, being able to align themselves with the teams, having that sort of visibility brought to them, it really makes it even more worthwhile. We know every dollar they get will be needed and used, so we want to keep doing it."
Jureller is confident the more the "Give 716" initiative takes place year-after-year, the more the community at large is starting to understand what it's all about.
While the "Give 716" initiative has seen more than $1.1 million come in that benefits different organizations in each of the first two years, Jureller points out that when there are incentives in play, typically one in a particular hour, donations start to skyrocket. In the hours there are no incentives in play, there tends to not be much activity through the website.
That's why organizers like Jureller have tried hard this year to fill as many of the hours as possible with different incentives for people looking to donate. Out of the 36 hours this event will take place, 16 of those hours will have a wide variety of incentives, some that will even provide special items for Buffalo sports fans.
"The t-shirts are actually in play throughout, but we're kicking off on Sunday night with a $50,000 match from the team foundations. At 8 o'clock that night, we've got 200 autographed mini helmets signed by Bills offensive players. Then at 9 o'clock, we have 300 lacrosse balls signed by Bandits players," Jureller explained. "Then we get into the following morning and there's money in play. We eventually have Sabres jerseys that'll be in play, Bisons tickets. We're trying to really fill the campaign, so no matter what time you want to make your donation or it's convenient for you to do so, there's a chance that you'll get something out of it in return. It's part of what makes it fun."
Jureller also mentions New Era giving 300 custom designed Buffalo Bills and Sabres hats for donors who meet the incentive on Monday at 3 p.m. ET.
With participation from the community also comes participation from those representing Western New York, as many different players from the Sabres, Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Bandits have all chipped in to help promote the cause.
"We brought down a bunch of numbers for Owen Power to sign at the All-Star Game so we could have the jerseys made up. [Alex] Tuch signed numbers that will go on jerseys, and we actually FedEx'd a bunch of stuff to Tage Thompson, he signed it and sent it back to us," Jureller said. "And then promotionally, Jeff Skinner did a great job. There's a really good video coming for anyone who's a fan of the 'Between 2 Stalls' segment that he does. There's sort of an offseason video which Jeff did the voiceover for, it's brilliant. And Casey [Mittelstadt] and Owen, as well, did some nice videos for us for the hats that we're going to have.
"The guys enjoy it. It's a little tough this time of year, because there's so few people around in mid-July. The Bills are prepping to go to camp, so it's the last bit of vacation they get. But it's a great time for us, for the two teams, because we're not really promoting anything else at the moment. It's sort of a quiet time, and there aren't many."
This also includes Bills head coach Sean McDermott and his wife, Jamie, who have generously committed a $20,000 matching donation during the 2 p.m. ET hour on Monday.
While Jureller understands times are tough and it may be difficult for some to donate, any contribution to the cause is helpful.
"$1, $7.16, all the money goes to charity," he said. "We're very, very proud and humbled at the support we've seen in the first two years, and I know this year is going to be great. It's Buffalo. These are people that time-and-time again step up and help the community. They were a big inspiration why we thought this was a good idea, and just want to say thank you to everybody who does participate."
More information about this year's initiative is available 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.
