LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Silver and Black Samaritans were in full force before the Las Vegas Raiders' preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Friday.
While animosity runs deep between the two rival franchises, it was all love at one tailgate outside Allegiant Stadium. At Raider Dad's annual fundraiser tailgating event, crowds of fans and families spent hours having fun and donating to a good cause.
Founded by Vegas local Josh Caminite in 2022, Raider Dad is a non-profit organization that sends kids and their parental figures to Raiders games at no cost. The effort targets families that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a ticket in the NFL's most expensive venue.
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$8,700 was raised from two checks while Raider Nation came together to raise thousands more. You can donate to the cause by going to vegasraiderdad.org.
I was there to check out the scene and caught up with Raider Dad founder Josh Caminite, One Nation Foundation president Murf, Black Hole members in attendance, and a man with Stage 4 cancer who came from Canada to attend Friday's game thanks to Raider Dad.
"It's about creating opportunity that isn't there for a lot of people," Caminite said. "At the same time, we're bringing a city together using sports and creating a break in reality for a lot of different causes in our community. I think it's something special to have that not only for a community but for a fanbase." |
"He's out here raising money to give kids tickets to come to that big stadium," Black Hole superfan member Hollywood Raider told Nick. "That's why we come out here and say 'hey, thank you for doing what you do.' It's love."
"It develops core memories for kids," said Murf, president and co-founder of the One Nation Foundation, which was the first major fan organization to donate to Raider Dad. "I grew up going to Raider games, going to A's games with my dad and members of my family. It was some of the most unique memories I had as a kid."
"We felt like it was an important thing to get behind to help generate those memories and those experiences for kids who wouldn't normally have the chance to do that," Murf continued. "When we found out what the mission of Raider Dad was, the One Nation Foundation jumped in and got fully behind them."
Entering its third season of operation, Raider Dad has sent 208 kids to Raiders home games and more are sure to follow with the help of this event. 44 kids were sent to the Raiders-49ers preseason game.
We spoke to Raider Dad about the initiative in May. Hear Nick's conversation with Josh Caminite and his son Noah here.