Carey Price and other NHL players give back to the community in these tough days.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
For a large swath of the hockey world, COVID-19 and these uncertain times have led to empty hockey rinks and stadiums globally.
The professional game is on pause. International tournaments forced to cancel or postpone. Amateur and youth players are social distancing – avoiding rinks altogether.
We all feel a void without hockey at the moment, but for many, the consequences of this virus stretch far beyond the game’s absence.
Children face empty stomachs. Workers face empty wallets.
But in the face of these dark and dire times, the hockey community is stepping up its humanitarian efforts to support those most affected at this time.
In the Vancouver area, Daniel and Henrik Sedin (and their wives) are donating $35,000 to the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt A School COVID-19 appeal. Its mission is to provide meals to low income children who depend on nutrition from schools, but have no access to that food while schools are closed.
“Although our initial wish was to provide for things like school trips and after-hours programs they won’t be happening for a while,” Henrik told the Vancouver Sun. “In the meantime the need for food takes priority.”
In Montreal, Carey and Angela Price are giving $50,000 to the Breakfast Club of Canada emergency fund to help Canada’s children.
“We are lucky to have everything we do, when so many people lack access to healthy food,” Angela Price said in a statement.
“We feel compelled to do our part so that the most vulnerable children and communities in the country, including Indigenous communities, aren’t victims of food insecurity during this crisis.”
The Breakfast Club of Canada says the funds raised “focus on food-insecure households with children across Canada, including those in Indigenous communities,” target high-need neighbourhoods, and that more than 50 organizations have applied for assistance from the Club thus far.
Over the past five years, the Price’s have raised a total of $820,000 dollars for the organization.
While food and other vital services hang in the balance for so many, there’s also the issue of income for part-time and so-called “gig” workers who depend on game action for their livelihood.
Tampa Bay Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos announced that the team is creating a fund to support the part-time workers at Amalie Arena who are out of work at this time.
“Those people do so much for us as athletes,” he said on the team’s official Instagram account. “We’re so fortunate to be able to work with them every day and it was important to us that we could do something for them during this time.”
Stamkos’ announcement comes on the heels of club owner Jeff Vinik announcing a compensation plan for those workers as well.
Additionally, Stamkos and the team are pledging 500,000 meals to Feeding Tampa Bay, a food rescue and distribution center in the Feeding America network.
Tampa’s southeastern rival, Carolina, is also chipping in for their employees.
The Canes are paying PNC Arena part-time staff for missed time. According to the team, staff will be compensated “based on expected workload” for the duration of March. The funds will be provided by Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation, and directly from Hurricanes players who are pooling their money.
“Our part-time event staff are a vital part of the gameday experience at PNC Arena,” Hurricanes president and GM Don Waddell said in a statement.
“We know that the season being paused has created a lot of uncertainty, so Tom, the players and the Foundation have stepped up to help these employees through this unprecedented situation.”
In addition, VAB catering, the arena’s food provider, donated more than $300,000 of potentially unused food to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle which donates food to those in need.
By no means is this list exhaustive, nor does it highlight what non-professional hockey organizations and communities are doing at this time. But, the above actions highlight how the hockey world -- a tightly-bonded community -- is doing for its own and for those suffering on the fringes.
Stamkos said it best in his address yesterday.
“It can be a very stressful time, a little scary, but we’re going to get through this together,” Stamkos said. “We’re going to get through this as a community.”
The professional game is on pause. International tournaments forced to cancel or postpone. Amateur and youth players are social distancing – avoiding rinks altogether.
We all feel a void without hockey at the moment, but for many, the consequences of this virus stretch far beyond the game’s absence.
Children face empty stomachs. Workers face empty wallets.
But in the face of these dark and dire times, the hockey community is stepping up its humanitarian efforts to support those most affected at this time.
In the Vancouver area, Daniel and Henrik Sedin (and their wives) are donating $35,000 to the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt A School COVID-19 appeal. Its mission is to provide meals to low income children who depend on nutrition from schools, but have no access to that food while schools are closed.
“Although our initial wish was to provide for things like school trips and after-hours programs they won’t be happening for a while,” Henrik told the Vancouver Sun. “In the meantime the need for food takes priority.”
In Montreal, Carey and Angela Price are giving $50,000 to the Breakfast Club of Canada emergency fund to help Canada’s children.
“We are lucky to have everything we do, when so many people lack access to healthy food,” Angela Price said in a statement.
“We feel compelled to do our part so that the most vulnerable children and communities in the country, including Indigenous communities, aren’t victims of food insecurity during this crisis.”
The Breakfast Club of Canada says the funds raised “focus on food-insecure households with children across Canada, including those in Indigenous communities,” target high-need neighbourhoods, and that more than 50 organizations have applied for assistance from the Club thus far.
Over the past five years, the Price’s have raised a total of $820,000 dollars for the organization.
While food and other vital services hang in the balance for so many, there’s also the issue of income for part-time and so-called “gig” workers who depend on game action for their livelihood.
Tampa Bay Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos announced that the team is creating a fund to support the part-time workers at Amalie Arena who are out of work at this time.
“Those people do so much for us as athletes,” he said on the team’s official Instagram account. “We’re so fortunate to be able to work with them every day and it was important to us that we could do something for them during this time.”
Stamkos’ announcement comes on the heels of club owner Jeff Vinik announcing a compensation plan for those workers as well.
Additionally, Stamkos and the team are pledging 500,000 meals to Feeding Tampa Bay, a food rescue and distribution center in the Feeding America network.
Tampa’s southeastern rival, Carolina, is also chipping in for their employees.
The Canes are paying PNC Arena part-time staff for missed time. According to the team, staff will be compensated “based on expected workload” for the duration of March. The funds will be provided by Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation, and directly from Hurricanes players who are pooling their money.
“Our part-time event staff are a vital part of the gameday experience at PNC Arena,” Hurricanes president and GM Don Waddell said in a statement.
“We know that the season being paused has created a lot of uncertainty, so Tom, the players and the Foundation have stepped up to help these employees through this unprecedented situation.”
In addition, VAB catering, the arena’s food provider, donated more than $300,000 of potentially unused food to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle which donates food to those in need.
By no means is this list exhaustive, nor does it highlight what non-professional hockey organizations and communities are doing at this time. But, the above actions highlight how the hockey world -- a tightly-bonded community -- is doing for its own and for those suffering on the fringes.
Stamkos said it best in his address yesterday.
“It can be a very stressful time, a little scary, but we’re going to get through this together,” Stamkos said. “We’re going to get through this as a community.”