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Chiefs fans pay respect to Bills Mafia, donate thousands to Buffalo children's hospital after gut-wrenching defeat
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Chiefs fans pay respect to Bills Mafia, donate thousands to Buffalo children's hospital after gut-wrenching defeat

In a nod to Buffalo Bills fans — who are known around the league for their charitable giving — the Kansas City Chiefs faithful this week started donating thousands of dollars to a children's hospital in Buffalo, New York, to commemorate the team's playoff win against the Bills last weekend.

In the divisional-round playoffs Sunday night, the defending AFC champion Chiefs responded to a Bills touchdown by driving the field in just 13 seconds to score a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation. They would go on to receive the ball in overtime and win the game 42-36.

It was one of the most heartbreaking losses in Buffalo Bills franchise history.

But after the game, Chiefs fans decided to turn the gut-wrenching loss into a positive thing for the Buffalo community. Starting Tuesday, they began donating in $13 increments to the Patricia Allen Fund at Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo. The fund is named after Bills quarterback Josh Allen's grandmother, who passed away last year.

As of Wednesday morning, nearly 10,000 Chiefs fans had donated a massive $178,000 total haul.

The hospital acknowledged the acts of kindness on Twitter by saying "our hearts are warm" and "we are overwhelmed." It added the support will go a long way toward ensuring great care for children and their families in Western New York.

According to ESPN, the original idea, spawned by a Chiefs Kingdom Facebook group, was to donate in $13 increments to quarterback Patrick Mahomes' charity, the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation. But then Chiefs fans changed their plans, inspired by the past charitable giving of the Buffalo Bills fan base, known colloquially as the "Bills Mafia."

Last November, after discovering that Josh Allen had played a game after just losing his grandmother, scores of Bills fans stepped up to donate in $17 increments — Allen's number — to Oishei Children's in support of the franchise quarterback. By the end of the year, the amount surpassed $1 million.

The donation frenzy quickly garnered national headlines and sparked the creation of the Patricia Allen Fund with input from Allen and his family. Now there is the Patricia Allen Pediatric Recovery Wing at Oishei Children's, where donations go to benefit the critical care team and provide equipment, training, and education.

In 2017, Bills fans similarly donated to then-Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton's foundation after Dalton threw a game-winning touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens, granting the Bills a playoff berth for the first time in 17 years.

The fan base has similarly donated to foundations represented by Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White following his season-ending ACL injury and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson following the team's playoff loss to the Bills in 2020.

The Chiefs are scheduled to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game this weekend.

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