Buffalo Bills Owner Matches $100K donation to food bank!

[jundp 191]

Warms my heart:

By Mark Gaughan NEWS SPORTS REPORTER

David and Myra Conley discovered on the spur of the moment that Buffalo Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. is a man of his word during Sunday’s season opener against Seattle.

The Bills held their annual Fan Food Drive at Ralph Wilson Stadium to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York. Wilson annually matches all cash donations made at the stadium. Typically, those donations amount to about $12,000.

The Conleys, who live in East Amherst, surprised the Bills with a check for $100,000.

Conley owns Medlab Inc., a medical testing company in Cheektowaga. He had been thinking about donating to the Food Bank for several years, since he saw a news report that showed Wilson’s wife, Mary, on a forklift helping the charity distribute goods.

“My father-in-law, ####### Sebian, is 84 years old, and since he retired he has been working for 22 years as a volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen on Main Street,” Conley said. “He told me that this year, they’re doing twice the meals served that they were doing a year ago.

“So I heard on the news that Mr. Wilson was matching all the money that’s being collected. And I wondered, would he give $100,000? He might cap it. He would have that right.”

The Conleys showed up at the stadium about 10 minutes after the opening kickoff to drop off their check. They were ushered into the Bills’ administration building. Food Bank officials needed to check if Wilson would match.

“This is where it gets complicated,” Conley said. “Ralph’s policy is he’s never to be interfered with during Bills games. It’s an absolute no-no.”

Mary Wilson popped the question early in the second quarter, Conley said, and Wilson insisted on meeting the Conleys in his suite.

“He couldn’t have been more charming,” Conley said. “After the game I spoke to him for a pretty long time and I thanked him for his 40-plus years of service to Western New York. . . . He told me he was so pleased with the matching donation. He told me he loves Buffalo because the people are so down to earth.”

Counting the donations of the Conleys and Wilsons, the Fan Food Drive collected a record total of $219,178.08, in addition to donations of 6,287 pounds of food. “I said, ‘Ralph, next year are you going to cap it?’ ” Conley said. “He said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I said, ‘Ralph, you don’t know me. When you tell me it’s not capped for next year, I’m asking you to rethink it.’ He said, ‘No cap for next year.’ I said, ‘I’ll see you next year.’ ”

•••

Bills left tackle Jason Peters participated fully in practice for a third straight day Friday while Langston Walker worked at his normal right tackle spot. It appears Peters will be ready to play Sunday in Jacksonville.

“I feel ready,” Peters said. “Just going through the plays today and the day before, I feel real good. . . . If it was up to me, I would want to play. But it’s not, and I’m just going to wait on [coach ####### Jauron] to make the decision.”

Jauron declined to confirm Peters will play because the Bills have until this afternoon to activate him.

Receiver Roscoe Parrish (ribs), linebacker John DiGiorgio (back) and defensive tackle John McCargo (back) all participated fully Friday and are listed as probable.

Jaguars receiver Jerry Porter (hamstring) participated fully for a third straight day. He is listed as questionable. Reserve receiver Troy Williamson (thigh) is out. Reserve receiver Dennis Northcutt (back) is questionable. He was limited Friday. Guard Uche Nwaneri (knee), safety Reggie Nelson (hip) and receiver Matt Jones (hamstring) are probable.

Source

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Rich people rule!!!!

[jundp 191]

Rich generous people rule

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

even better

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

It's nice to hear such good news from people in Western New York that help out the food bank like that. Got to hand it to Ralph Wilson for donating the money and the rest of the Western New Yorkers for donating the food. Hopefully this helps a lot of people out, who truly need it.

Hmm...speaking of football, the Bills/Jacksonville game is about to end soon today. I wonder who won that one (will have to ask my husband about that one, as he's the Bills fan around here). As for Peters, at least he finally came around from his contract holdouts and is playing today (gee, wasn't he getting enough millions already?). Too bad about the other team players injuries too.

Ant (Cheering "Go Western New Yorkers! Go Bills Go!")

Warms my heart:

By Mark Gaughan NEWS SPORTS REPORTER

David and Myra Conley discovered on the spur of the moment that Buffalo Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. is a man of his word during Sunday's season opener against Seattle.

The Bills held their annual Fan Food Drive at Ralph Wilson Stadium to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York. Wilson annually matches all cash donations made at the stadium. Typically, those donations amount to about $12,000.

The Conleys, who live in East Amherst, surprised the Bills with a check for $100,000.

Conley owns Medlab Inc., a medical testing company in Cheektowaga. He had been thinking about donating to the Food Bank for several years, since he saw a news report that showed Wilson's wife, Mary, on a forklift helping the charity distribute goods.

"My father-in-law, ####### Sebian, is 84 years old, and since he retired he has been working for 22 years as a volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen on Main Street," Conley said. "He told me that this year, they're doing twice the meals served that they were doing a year ago.

"So I heard on the news that Mr. Wilson was matching all the money that's being collected. And I wondered, would he give $100,000? He might cap it. He would have that right."

The Conleys showed up at the stadium about 10 minutes after the opening kickoff to drop off their check. They were ushered into the Bills' administration building. Food Bank officials needed to check if Wilson would match.

"This is where it gets complicated," Conley said. "Ralph's policy is he's never to be interfered with during Bills games. It's an absolute no-no."

Mary Wilson popped the question early in the second quarter, Conley said, and Wilson insisted on meeting the Conleys in his suite.

"He couldn't have been more charming," Conley said. "After the game I spoke to him for a pretty long time and I thanked him for his 40-plus years of service to Western New York. . . . He told me he was so pleased with the matching donation. He told me he loves Buffalo because the people are so down to earth."

Counting the donations of the Conleys and Wilsons, the Fan Food Drive collected a record total of $219,178.08, in addition to donations of 6,287 pounds of food. "I said, 'Ralph, next year are you going to cap it?' " Conley said. "He said, 'No, I'm not.' I said, 'Ralph, you don't know me. When you tell me it's not capped for next year, I'm asking you to rethink it.' He said, 'No cap for next year.' I said, 'I'll see you next year.' "

•••

Bills left tackle Jason Peters participated fully in practice for a third straight day Friday while Langston Walker worked at his normal right tackle spot. It appears Peters will be ready to play Sunday in Jacksonville.

"I feel ready," Peters said. "Just going through the plays today and the day before, I feel real good. . . . If it was up to me, I would want to play. But it's not, and I'm just going to wait on [coach ####### Jauron] to make the decision."

Jauron declined to confirm Peters will play because the Bills have until this afternoon to activate him.

Receiver Roscoe Parrish (ribs), linebacker John DiGiorgio (back) and defensive tackle John McCargo (back) all participated fully Friday and are listed as probable.

Jaguars receiver Jerry Porter (hamstring) participated fully for a third straight day. He is listed as questionable. Reserve receiver Troy Williamson (thigh) is out. Reserve receiver Dennis Northcutt (back) is questionable. He was limited Friday. Guard Uche Nwaneri (knee), safety Reggie Nelson (hip) and receiver Matt Jones (hamstring) are probable.

Source

[antda 13]

P.S. I hope too, that the Buffalo Bills aren't sold to Toronto (there have been rumours about this as the Bills were playing more of their home games there) or to any other major City/franchise after Ralph Wilson dies (lol..that's another story....enough about football...back to immigration topics now....)

Edited September 14, 2008 by AntandD