A fundraising page created by Damar Hamlin to benefit a Pittsburgh-area toy drive has raised more than $6 million from more than 200,000 donations following the 24-year-old Buffalo Bills defensive back’s cardiac arrest during an NFL game with the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday, the Buffalo News reports.

Hamlin created the GoFundMe page in December 2020 to benefit a community toy drive at Kelly and Nina’s Daycare Center—operated by Hamlin’s mother, Nina Hayes—in McKees Rocks, near Pittsburgh. Hamlin, who attended the University of Pittsburgh, began the fundraising effort through his Chasing M’s Foundation with an initial goal of raising $2,500. According to the Buffalo News, Hamlin has since made the toy drive an annual effort.

“As I embark on my journey to the NFL, I will never forget where I come from and I am committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me,” wrote Hamlin on the GoFundMe page.

In October 2022, Hamlin told the Buffalo News, “Just coming from nothing, coming from the bottom, just that I’m working my way up. Nothing has been handed to me at all. That’s a big part of it as well. Nothing being handed to me: you got to work for everything that you want, and that you get. And if you do [the] work, you’ll see results.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Bryan Bennet)