FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On Tuesday, April 16, the day after the tragic events resulting from the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the Kraft family pledged to match the first $100,000 raised through donations to their charitable foundation, designating that all proceeds would benefit The One Fund-Boston (onefundboston.org).
In less than three days, contributions by New England Patriots and New England Revolution fans exceeded that total. Since then, the National Football League Foundation, Major League Soccer, the Major League Soccer Players Union and the tenants of Patriot Place have each pledged generous donations to the cause through the teams’ charitable foundations. With recent pledges of significant personal donations from Kraft family friends Roger Stone and Ron Perelman, along with an additional pledge from the team’s charitable foundation, the Kraft family is proud to announce that $617,000 has been raised in the past week and will be donated to The One Fund-Boston.
“I am so proud to see how this region has responded to last week’s tragedies in Boston,” said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. “We have witnessed heroism in its purest form and have seen an outpouring of community support. It has been an emotional week and our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of the victims and all who were injured by this senseless act and the events since then. The healing process won’t be easy, but I am touched by the tremendous support The One Fund has generated and am happy that our donations will help keep ‘Boston Strong.’”
Patriot Place restaurants and partners CBS Scene, Davio’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Capriotti’s, Five Guys, Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, Twenty 8, Olive Garden, Tavolino, Bass Pro Shops and the Mass Cruisers Auto Club either collected donations or donated a portion of their proceeds in response to the pledge last week.
The Patriots and Revolution Charitable Foundations will continue to collect donations online, with monies raised earmarked for The One Fund. Donations can be made at Patriots.com/donate or RevolutionSoccer.net/donate (please note “Boston Marathon” in the field provided).
Thirty four members of the Patriots Charitable Foundation marathon team, including Patriots and Revolution staff and their families, participated in the Boston Marathon on Patriots Day, which was halted when two explosions near the finish line resulted in casualties and injured spectators and participants. The 2013 Patriots Charitable Foundation marathon team broke their charitable fundraising records, raising more than $252,480 to support the Myra Kraft Community MVP Awards program.
