Our mission & history.

In honor and memory of our dear son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, uncle, friend, and teammate Matthew William Benedict, we established a non-profit endowment through the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo on the day immediately following Matthew’s death by suicide.

Since its establishment on July 2, 2019, the core mission of this enduring fund has been to elevate awareness, provide vital support, finance critical research, and foster a deep understanding of the profound challenges individuals face on their mental health journeys—challenges deeply reflected in Matthew’s own experience. Our ultimate aim is to proactively protect others, beginning with young athletes, from the lasting and far-reaching consequences of repetitive head impacts and concussions, including the often-overlooked but significant mental health effects that can emerge over time.

While Matt knew of and freely shared his own struggles; he also realized that this was a challenge that untold numbers of other young adults faced. He devoted his most lucid moments in his last five years to helping others face their struggles, bringing awareness to the plight of concussion related injuries and mental health issues, and combatting the stigma associated with mental health.

Matt was our rock, our ray of sunshine, and an enormous source of pride even as he continued to struggle internally. We believe that Matthew would want any donations in his name to be used to establish and support efforts that help students and athletes who struggle with their mental health, raise awareness about repetitive head trauma, concussions, and brain damage, and aid in the enormous challenge of suicide prevention. The trustees of this endowment, in consultation with a variety of professionals in the fields of mental health, education, athletics, law, and others, are deeply committed to working towards Matthew’s one last goal - providing awareness and understanding to the community in order to help individuals like Matthew who feel as though nobody understands them and that they have nowhere to turn.

Please consider a donation in memory of Matthew. Together, we hope to honor Matthew and preserve his legacy of generosity, good will, and compassion for the rest of our lives and beyond. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

“No more hiding. No more silence. Speak up… tell everyone you love them every single day and treat those you don’t know with the same love. Start the conversation now… life is precious. And listen… don’t just hear, but listen to those you love and everyone around you… make sure they know they matter.”

— Matthew Benedict, 2015