News	Lucky Number 7 by Donny Kutzbach

When you talk to JP Losman, you’re left with little question that he is a city dweller. The Buffalo Bills quarterback will gladly tell you about the many restaurants he loves up and down the Elmwood strip, the rock clubs like Mohawk Place and Nietzsche’s where he’s been getting a taste for the local music scene and about picking out skateboard decks at Sunday Skate Shop on Potomac.

He lives nearby them all and he wouldn’t change that for anything.

While virtually every one of his teammates has chosen to make residence in suburbs like Orchard Park and Clarence, Losman eschews the tract-mansion mentality for urban living downtown in the Queen City.

“I’ve lived in cities my whole life—from Los Angeles to New Orleans, and now Buffalo—and I feel safer in a city atmosphere,” he says. “I like being around people and everything a downtown area offers.”

While it’s become something of an obligation for professional athletes to lend their names and time to a charity or bang the drum behind their own cause celebre, Losman’s refreshingly grassroots project, Buffalo Lives, not only comes from his heart but also has a mission statement that Western New Yorkers can get behind: clean up and revitalize the community.

“I’ve been living in Buffalo for the last three years,” he says. “It’s a place that I call home. I want to do anything I can to help strengthen this community and with Buffalo Lives we hope to do that. We’re going to clean the city—and all of Western New York—one street, one neighborhood at a time.”

It’s not just a lot of talk. Losman is spearheading the nonprofit Buffalo Lives, veritably QBing the organization in a very hands-on way. You can hear the excitement in his voice when he talks about the group’s first official cleanup, scheduled for Saturday, September 1.

“We’re going to start it all right in front of City Hall—the heart of downtown,” he says with a smile.

“We’re going to have a band playing, have some food, but most importantly we’re going to move up Niagara Street and then go to Elmwood and Main. We’re starting with the three commercial streets that need it the most,” Losman says.

“A lot of people drive these streets every day. Planting trees and flowers, doing some minor roadwork and mainly picking up the trash—it can make a big difference.”

WEDG-103.3 program director Jim Kurdziel has been working with Losman to help get Buffalo Lives rolling and he believes the QB’s initiative will inspire many.

“JP’s involvement makes this bigger than it could’ve been without him,” Kurdziel says. “He hates talking about that, but it’s true. He’s the biggest name in all of Western New York.

“He wasn’t born here, but he loves it here and calls it home,” Kurdziel continues. “What better endorsement for Buffalo’s future is there?”

Losman has met with the mayor, who he says is not only supporting the project 100 percent but also is excited about it. It’s not just high-profile downtown locales Losman and Buffalo Lives plan to hit with their cleanup campaign.

“We want to get people out in their own neighborhoods and get excited about beautifying where they live,” Losman says.

He admits that cleaning up Western New York is not a new idea, citing other groups with some of the same goals, but he hopes that Buffalo Lives can reach a whole new audience of volunteers while working with those who have already been at it.

“We’re hoping to link up with groups doing similar things and put it all under one umbrella, team up and instill pride in our town. I want to get football fans, music fans, Elmwood fans, artists, skateboarders, just all kinds of people.”

Fittingly, Losman is starting the buzz behind Buffalo Lives by going after not the obvious crowd of Sunday afternoon pigskin fanatics, but rather rock fans and artist types, with a kickoff this Saturday at Nietzsche’s with local bands Needle Up and Red Water, along with his buds from the LA band Dreadstar.

“Everyone is going to be dancing and having a good time on Saturday, but hopefully they’ll walk away excited thinking about what we want to do to make Buffalo better,” Losman says.

Buffalo Lives will celebrate its kickoff party this Saturday, July 7, at Nietzsche’s at 9pm with Dread Star, Needle Up and Red Water (capacity limited). For more info: buffalolives.org