Buffalo Freedom Gardens receives $15,000 through Better Together

Through the Better Together collaborative fundraising initiative, the Buffalo Bills Foundation and the Buffalo Sabres Foundation are supporting five local Black-led organizations that are all dedicated to addressing food equity.
From building gardens for families to growing their own vegetables to creating a grocery store in a food desert, these organizations help provide healthy, affordable food for Buffalo residents.
In celebration of Black History Month, the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres Foundations encourage fans to be "Better Together" and join us in supporting these incredible organizations to help irradicate race-based disparities and help improve the overall health for members of our community.
Perry's Ice Cream is matching the first $20,000 in online donations from funds that were accrued through the sale of their "Let's Dough Buffalo" ice cream.
Today, the Buffalo Sabres Foundation is proud to announce a $15,000 donation to Buffalo Freedom Gardens.

Buffalo Freedom Gardens was created during the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020 by longtime Grassroots Gardener Gail Wells.
The organization provided 50 members of the Western New York community with raised garden beds and the means to grow healthy food in their own backyards.
Wells wanted to create opportunity for those who were at-risk during the pandemic to build self-sustaining, self-reliant lives, from the safety of their own homes.
"We believe that you not only grow the food you love, but also family connections. And it provides people with an outlet for stress and building a healthy lifestyle," she said.

The organization had 335 families first apply for just 50 beds that were available. Wells said that the group initially focused on seniors in the community who were at the highest risk of COVID and needed to stay safe at home.
"With this very generous donation from the Buffalo Sabres, we plan to help build garden beds for people dealing with cancer, Parkinson's Disease, lupus and others with compromised immune systems in our city," she said.
Wells and her team of volunteers build the raised garden beds to the specific needs of each recipient, supply the tools needed, and provide them with step-by-step plans to care for their gardens.
"The goal is to become a network of gardeners who are self-sufficient and independent, working together as a community to better Buffalo," Wells said.