Last month, the school held a football rivalry food drive where the fans of the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins gathered food at the school, with a football theme. One of the teachers involved, Lisa Johnson, said the drive went well.

“We chose to focus our energy on our unity and the good we could do together,” Johnson said. “We were able to donate many, many grocery bags of canned goods to both the Salvation Army and The Bemus Point United Methodist Church food pantry.”

In a similar fashion, and using the same Josh Allen cutout that was used during the food drive, the school on Tuesday began collecting notes for Hamlin.

During Monday night’s football game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin collapsed on the field following a play, causing the game to be postponed. Hamlin remains in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Pictured is the Josh Allen cutout at Bemus Point Elementary School that is being used to collect “well wishes” from students for Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin.

Johnson said the school wanted to show unity after Hamlin’s injury.

“In light of (Monday) night’s events, we are even more motivated to show we are all on the same team,” Johnson said. “Today, (Tuesday), our Josh Allen will collect well wishes for Damar Hamlin.”

Additionally, Johnson said they thought the students would need a way to express themselves and their feelings about the game.

“The way we felt coming into work (Tuesday) morning, we knew the students would need an outlet for their emotions,” Johnson said. “So many of our kids are football fans. We offered anyone who wanted to participate the opportunity to send a ‘get well’ message to Damar. I will mail them to the Bills later this week.”

Johnson said the mood was a solemn one on Tuesday, and that everyone is sending their thoughts and prayers to Hamlin and the entire Buffalo Bills team.

“Damar and the whole Buffalo Bills community are on our minds as we hope and wish for the best,” Johnson said. “Some of us have already donated to his charity.”

Principal Sonja DuBois said that as a school, Bemus Point teaches respect, even when there are rival teams. She said that Monday night’s game is an example of rivals coming together.

“Here at the school we have created an environment where we recognize the rivalry between teams,” DuBois said. “We teach our kids to look at this rivalry with respect, because respectful banter is most appropriate. Looking at how the two teams came together (Monday) night, this shows the camaraderie that sports bring.

“We come together for the same thing and that’s sports. For me this is an example of what we teach our kids. Sports bring us together and excites us. It’s OK if we don’t like the same team, but there are times when we can come together and be one, and we are one team here at Bemus Point Elementary.”

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