ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — After Luke Knox, the younger brother of Bills tight end Dawson Knox, passed away in August, Bills Mafia stepped up and donated more than $210,000 to the P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative. The foundation is one that the elder Knox has supported since his rookie year on the Bills, thanks to his former teammate and fellow tight end, Lee Smith.

“Lee Smith introduced me to the foundation and took me to the hospital,” Knox told News 4. “I got to meet some kids, meet some families, and it was pretty life changing. I can’t imagine a much worse situation than having a kid go through something that’s so uncontrollable.”

Knox said he has a close connection to the cause, after his cousin was diagnosed with cancer as a kid.

“Thankfully he made it through it but it was very scary for a long time and I saw the effect it had on my whole family,” he said.

This year, he’s once again selling ‘Knox Sox,’ to give back to the foundation and kids who are fighting cancer. Twenty-five percent of proceeds from the socks go to P.U.N.T.

“I got the idea just from going to the hospital and seeing all the kids, because they all wear those generic, grey hospital socks with the rubber on the bottom that are super boring,” he said. “So I thought it’d be cool to give them something colorful, put a Bills logo on there, give them something fun, give them something that they feel like is their own, that they can rock in the hospital instead of putting on those boring socks all day.”

Knox will also donate $100 for every reception this season, and $1,000 for every touchdown to P.U.N.T.

He said it has meant the world to him to have the support this season, after he lost his little brother.

“It reassured me that it’s my home away from home,” he said. “Just the amount love and support I feel from this community, it just kind of feels like a big, extended family the way that everyone from Buffalo and everyone around the country was able to donate a little bit in my brother’s honor to the PUNT Foundation and the results were absolutely incredible.”

“And I never tweeted anything, I never announced anything, it was just an automatic response from our fans. It’s just another example of why we have the best fans in the world. It was really touching and supportive for me to see that.”

Every week of the NFL season, we’re focusing charities and causes that each player supports. You can watch these stories on Wake Up!