It's part of Notre Dame's mission statement for the students, faculty, and staff to help others, and Principal Wade Bianco said on Friday evening to see the school come together to raise $486 for The Chasing M's Foundation, a charity set up by Damar Hamlin.
Hamlin is a second-year defensive back with the Buffalo Bills who went into cardiac arrest during the Bills' game against the Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday night.
CPR was performed on Hamlin, and he was transported to a Cincinnati hospital, where he was initially listed in critical condition. He is recovering well, according to news reports.
But his plight drew attention to his charity, and the folks at Notre Dame wanted to join forces, and express support for Hamlin, the Bills, and the community.
Kristen Gomez and Kate Edwards helped organize Friday's fundraiser, Bianco said.
It was "Wear Blue and Red Day." For a $2 donation, students could ditch their school uniforms for the day and wear the colors of the Buffalo Bills. Their donations were supplemented, Bianco said, by donations from faculty, staff, and alumni for usually more than $5 and $10 each.
There are currently 230 students enrolled at Notre Dame.
That afternoon, the whole school gathered and formed a #3 in honor of Hamlin for a school photo.
"The whole idea was to honor #3 and to honor Buffalo," Bianco said. "We wanted to say, 'we love you. We pray for you. And we're going to support you to the best of our ability.'"
Bianco said he was proud to see everybody come together and "do what's right."
"Doing what’s right is a big sell, especially nowadays, when a lot of people don’t want to do what’s right," Bianco said.
The $486 from Notre Dame is now part of more than $8 million that has been raised through Hamlin's GoFundMe page, with donations pouring in from all over the country. The money is used for toy drives, back-to-school drives, kids camps, and more, according to a statement on the page. The 24-year-old player is from McKees Rocks, Pa.
"How fortunate we are to live in a community that cares about each other and extends our care beyond our city limits to the entire Western New York community," Bianco said.
Submitted photo.
