Buffalo, N.Y.  — We’re highlighting Bills fans who are taking their passion for the team off the field, and about 150 kids will now get much-needed school supplies thanks to the fanbase and a really big banner.

You may have seen the show of support before the Rams game on September 27: A banner flew over the stadium before the game which read, ‘Together or apart, #BillsMafia Loves You!’

But what does that banner have to do with a non-profit that helps give kids school supplies?

Well, lets start at the beginning.

Back in September, Joe Vaiana sent out a tweet after his disappointment with the lack of fans in the stands. Vaiana grew up a Bills fan in his hometown near Rochester. He now lives in Central Pennsylvania. That tweet read: “Does anyone know a pilot who can tow a banner for us or know where/how we can hire someone?”

“It started off just as a silly message on social media,” he said. “I didn’t think anything of it. Who’s going to respond to it? No big deal.

Well, Joe underestimated the power of social media and the passion behind the fanbase because next thing he knew, hundreds of people were on board. So, he contacted a pilot and started raising the money needed to pay him: $3,650.

“People in California, Canada, New York, Buffalo, Pennsylvania… we got donations from all over the country.”

Joe received enough money to pull it off. Before the Rams game, as the players watched below, the banner circled above.

“When Bills Mafia (was) flying the banner over the stadium, players saw it, I saw it, how cool was that?” Head Coach Sean McDermott said in a press conference after the game that day. “We can be apart but together in so many ways.”

But Bills Mafia went one step further and raised about $2,000 more than was needed, so Joe decided to donate the extra funds to a local non-profit. He put it up for a vote and donors ended up choosing The Teacher’s Desk to make more Pancho Packs.

Each Pancho Pack is filled with $100 in school supplies. They’re given to kids in need before the school year begins.

“Pancho passed away a little over a year ago, and he said that he wanted school supplies to be given to kids… he didn’t want flowers at his funeral,” John Mika said, the director of the Teacher’s Desk. “That started Del and the folks at Bills Mafia contacting us to give to kids in need. That’s how Pancho Packs was born. and this donation here will help us get a good start for 2021.”

So, that’s how a guy on Twitter, a massive banner, and a fanbase that never ceases to amaze helped dozens of kids in need in Western New York.