While dressed as Santa at his annual Christmas party, December 23rd was declared “Marcell Dareus Day” in Buffalo.
Marcell Dareus has been in the giving spirit this whole holiday season — dating back to Halloween. He has made it a mission to show how much this community means to him and is doing an amazing job at it.
On December 23rd, he hosted 175 children at the William-Emslie Family YMCA in Buffalo, NY for a Christmas party. It’s his second year in a row providing gifts for children in need and something he plans to do every year from here on out.
Dressed as Santa, he handed out gifts to the children and took pictures with them sitting on Santa’s lap. In the midst of all the love, Dareus was presented with a proclamation that declared December 23rd as ‘Marcell Dareus Day’ in Buffalo. It’s a symbol of everything he does in this city — on and off the field.
The proclamation was presented by a “representative from the office of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.” The announcement left Dareus overjoyed:
"“This is one of my favorite days of the year and I feel so happy that I’m able to brighten the holidays for these kids,” said Dareus. “It’s the least that I can do to help this Buffalo community that supports me so much. To have this be ‘Marcell Dareus Day’ in Buffalo means the world to me. I love the people here and being able to interact with them one-on-one is what this time of year is all about.”"
To show even more thanks, Dareus did some presenting himself in the form of a $10,000 check made out to YMCA Buffalo Niagara. This is a time of year he looks forward to and he is very grateful to have teamed up with the YMCA. The event was also made possible by NORSTAR.
"“Words can’t even express how I really feel about giving back, because this is something that I’ve dreamed of,” said Dareus. “Somebody did this for me once, and to be on the other end is something that I never would have imagined. The fact that I can make the same difference in the lives of these young people in Buffalo, and make sure they have a great Christmas, is really exciting for me.”"
The Buffalo Bills host the Miami Dolphins at 1:00 PM on Christmas Eve. Chances are Dareus will have some more gifts up his sleeve for this city. I know a lot of fans will be hoping for a win.
At the event, Dareus had some words for Miami:
"“We’re going to ‘squish the fish’ tomorrow,” said Dareus. “You’re going to see me exert everything in me to make sure that happens.”"
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We know Dareus gives 110% everytime he steps foot on the field and Week 16 won’t be any different. With the way Jay Ajayi ran all over our defense in Week 7, we will need everything he has to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Go Buffalo Bills and a big thank you to Marcell Dareus for everything he does!
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