WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. [WKBW] — Even when he's back home in Omaha, Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips has Buffalo's back.
On Wednesday, Phillips teamed up with Rachel's Mediterranean Grill and Ilio DiPaolo's, to provide 650 meals to frontline workers at Millard Filmore Suburban Hospital in Williamsville.
"This city welcomed me with open arms," Phillips told 7 ABC on Wednesday. "I'm still going to do something here in Omaha, that's where I'm at now. My aunt is a nurse at one of the hospitals so I think I'm going to try and do something here is well. But I wanted to get Buffalo first and foremost."
Phillips, who often visits area hospitals during the season, has formed friendships with several workers. Those relationships were one of the main reasons why the third-year Bills defensive tackle chose to make this type of donation.
“I’ve actually gotten to know some of the workers, and the nurses, and the people that I see every time I go up there and visit," Phillips said. "So these are the doctors and nurses that are going to be getting a meal."
“It really signifies everything that Western New York is," Kaleida Health Foundation Vice President Carol Horton said. "To have donations, especially, from someone like Harrison Phillips, who has been supportive of Kaleida for about a year and a half now, it really signifies how this is the city of good neighbors.”
Phillips also incorporated his non-profit The Playmakers, which supports kids with developmental differences and special needs. For every kid who did a chore around the house, Phillips donated $10 on their behalf.
"We had about 50 kids send in pictures or videos of them mowing the lawn, washing the dishes, folding laundry, walking the dog and all these things. So of these 650 meals, 50 of them will be donated from my kids with special needs."
