ABOUT BUFFALO BILL
The WHY behind our annual memorial golf tournament.
Will
The why behind Buffalo Bill's Roundup is: William Francis Kelly, or "Will", "Buffalo Bill" - a man of many nicknames. Will was born in Atlanta, Georgia on February 18th, 1995, and quickly made a big impression on the world with his humor, wit, and unwavering loyalty to those he loved.
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After growing up in Florida and Utah, Will joined his older sister at the University of Alabama for college. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and moved to Birmingham after college to work as a financial project manager in the construction industry. Will loved the simple things in life: good music, Alabama football, playing a round of golf, a good burger, and Coors Light. But above all else, he cherished his relationships with his friends and family.
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On November 6, 2020, Will was killed from fentanyl poisoning. Someone he was with after a night out served him a lethal dose of fentanyl, and he passed away quickly in his sleep after ingesting it. Will's death poses questions and conversation about the opioid epidemic, fentanyl awareness, mental health, drug use, and other very real, complex issues that our friends, family, and communities struggle with.
While we don't pretend to know all of the answers, starting the discussion and making people feel less alone is one of our goals in hosting this golf tournament.
In honor of Will, his life, and starting change-making, vulnerable conversation, we started an annual golf tournament in his honor: Buffalo Bill's Roundup.
THE EVENT
The inaugural Buffalo Bill's Roundup Memorial Tournament was held nearly a year after Will's passing, on September 19, 2021 in Will's hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. The subsequent events have been held in Alabama, and most recently, Denver, CO. While the main purpose of the event is to celebrate and remember Will, it is also a charity event to raise donations for a cause that will help others in a meaningful way. Over $4,000 dollars in donations from the inaugural event were given to The Crimson Tide Foundation and the Partnership for a Healthier America in 2021. For the second annual event in 2022, we donated over $4,500 to the SAFE Project. At the third annual event in 2023, we raised $6,196 to donate to the Michael Leonardi Foundation.
THE CAUSE
Fentanyl is the number one cause of death in the U.S. for ages 18-45, ahead of Covid, suicide, and car accidents. There were an estimated 107,000 fentanyl related deaths in the United States in 2023 - an alarming increase from the 92,000 fentanyl deaths in 2020. For most victims, fentanyl was not their drug of choice. Rather, they were poisoned by dealers who sold them fake pills, cocaine or heroin made with fentanyl.
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Donations from the 2024 event will be sent to the National Harm Reduction Coalition, a non-profit whose mission is to uplift the voices and experiences of people who use drugs and bring harm reduction strategies to scale. For more than 25 years, they have worked with communities to create, sustain, and expand evidence-based harm reduction programs and policies. They hold space for and support communities who are impacted by crises like HIV, hepatitis C, and overdoses, offering resources and training for local leaders to create solutions that work best for their community. Our donations will go towards their new Overdose Prevention program, which helps to distribute Naloxone at scale and enables fentanyl testing and education from coast to coast.
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We know Will would have wanted to bring awareness to this cause, so we are honored to partner with the National Harm Reduction Coalition in 2024 to honor Will's memory.
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