clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Buffalo Bills fans raise more than $80k for Josh Allen’s former high school

Matt Warren is Associate Director of NFL coverage for SB Nation and previously covered the Bills for Buffalo Rumblings for more than a decade.

Prior to the Buffalo Bills’ game against the Houston Texans just over a week ago, quarterback Josh Allen waltzed into the facility wearing a discontinued Firebaugh Eagles hoodie. With red and blue as the logo colors of Allen’s high school, it was a ready-made Bills souvenir, but there was one problem. You couldn’t get them anywhere.

The Bills came through the following day, offering up sales of the hooded sweatshirt with proceeds benefiting the school. After a week of sales, the team closed the ordering overnight. According to Sal Capaccio of WGR 550 in Buffalo, they sold 2500 in the first 24 hours and in seven days, the sales raised more than $80,000.

Growing up in Firebaugh, California, Allen’s family were cantaloupe farmers as mentioned repeatedly on the Sunday night broadcast. He didn’t receive scholarship offers coming out of the tiny high school and had to play his way up through the ranks.

Even before the final totals came out, Firebaugh’s principal expressed his gratitude. They haven’t announced how the money will be spent, but we will update if and when that information comes out.

Fans have raised money for Allen’s charities in the past, as well. A wing of the Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo bears the name of Allen’s grandmother after fans raised more than $1 million in December of 2020.