Bills' Dion Dawkins' charity cornhole tournament benefits families of victims of Tops shooting

Dawkins loves cornhole, the popular backyard game played by tossing beanbags.

He recently competed in the American Cornhole League’s Cornhole Mania tournament in Atlantic City, N.J., and finished second. He plays often with his teammates. Dawkins also wanted to continue to find new ways to fundraise for his foundation, Dion’s Dreamers.

The Dion Dawkins and Ilio DiPaolo’s Charity Cornhole Tournament was already scheduled for Sunday, initially to benefit Dion's Dreamers. But in the wake of last week’s racist mass shooting at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue, Dawkins wanted to instead donate to support the families of the victims and the East Side community.

It was an easy decision.

“One-hundred percent,” Dawkins said Sunday. “They need every bit, plus some. And this is just a small, small, small piece. And I'm going to continue to do more and more and more to just drive everything to the families first, and then those organizations.”

All proceeds from Sunday’s tournament will now benefit the Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund & Buffalo Community Response Fund. The final amount was still being tallied, but more than $9,000 was raised at The Lodge at Woodlawn Beach State Park.

Dawkins is also taking time to find additional nonprofits to support in the future. As a member of the Bills’ Player Community Leadership Committee, Dawkins wants to make sure that efforts to help the East Side community continue well after the flood of immediate support.

“Everybody scatters, and everybody just goes back into their little blankets, like ‘Oh, we did our justice.’ But it's on organizations like the Bills, organizations like Dion’s Dreamers, and all these little one, two punches to continue to bring light and continue to just pour our energy to that area,” Dawkins said.

“Because that area is going to be historic forever. So we have to put our effort in there. We have to physically be there. We can't just tweet about it. We have to be about it.”

It was cold and rainy as the event kicked off, but that didn’t stop the games.

Dawkins started the day off by introducing some of his Bills teammates.

He competed with defensive end A.J. Epenesa, who Dawkins said carried the first game. Tight ends Dawson Knox and O.J. Howard played together. The offensive line had a strong showing. Tommy Doyle, Spencer Brown and Jacob Capra were all there, along with Ryan Bates, who played barefoot in the rain. Wide receiver Gabriel Davis, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, and some of the Bills support staff were all there.

While some already had been planning on competing Sunday, Dawkins thought the new cause was also a driving force.

“I definitely think that my teammates were planning on coming, but once I let them know what the cause was for, it was like ‘Yup, we're going to stay and we're going to be here.’ So they all switched gears and I'm thankful for them.”

Howard, who signed with the Bills in March, has quickly gotten involved with his new team.

“Dion put the flyer in the locker room, and you had to get a partner,” Howard said. “I told Dawson, ‘Man, let’s run it.’ He was like, ‘Let's do it.’ ”

Howard is still getting to know Buffalo, but Sunday’s charity event, like safety Micah Hyde’s softball game the week before, reinforced the team’s connection with the community to him.

“It just tells you how the community, no matter what happens, everyone still sticks together,” he said. “And it's one community, one Buffalo.”

The format also brought fans alongside players. The tournament was double elimination, and pairs could sign up in either competitive or recreational brackets. Even playing against members of the Buffalo Cornhole League, Dawkins and the other Bills didn’t shy away from trash-talking.

“I'm going to tell you the truth: In a football game, I try to keep it calm and cool until stuff starts to get wild,” Dawkins said. “But cornhole, I definitely talk my stuff. And I mean, immediately, I let you know, ‘I'm talking to you. I'm in your head, and we're going to win.’ So, definitely, cornhole is definitely where I'm chopping off the most.”

But even if the Bills players were quick to chirp, a lot of them lost quickly, thanks to strong showings from other participants.

Nicole Wojciechowski has been playing the game for a while and came to the event in a cornhole jersey. She had signed up to play earlier this month, drawn by the competitive aspect, and the chance to give back made it more meaningful. Wojciechowski was also excited to see some of her favorite football players try their hand at a different game.

“I thought it was so awesome," she said. "You think these guys, all they do is they play football, they practice, they’re constantly playing football,” she said. “But no, they come out they have regular lives, they play cornhole, they play a bunch of different sports, they give back to the community. It's really an awesome thing to see.”