Canes hockey as a good local citizen

Sometimes underestimated is the volume of good things that the Carolina Hurricanes organization does in our local community. The full-time fundraising efforts of the Kids ‘N Community foundation donated $560,000 to 29 children’s charities during the 2016-17 season. The team participates in league-wide initiatives including Hockey Fights Cancer in the fall and You Can Play in February which aims to make NHL hockey inclusive for everyone. And in addition to in-game fundraisers, the team also does a number of other events including the 5K, the golf tourney, skate with the Canes, the 24-hour bike-a-thon and the annual casino night (being replaced by the Hurricanes Bash this year) to name a few. A few of the players themselves have programs both at PNC Arena (renting luxury boxes for a different charity group each game) and away from the game in addition to players’ involvement in community service multiple times per season.

The team and the broader Carolina Hurricanes organization deserve a ton of credit for being a good local citizen and supporting many good causes during the course of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey season.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation

All of these endeavors have merit and it is tremendous that the organization is able to support so many charities, but one of my personal favorites has always been the annual tradition of the team hosting St. Baldrick’s participants at Canes games during the latter part of the season.

For those who are not familiar with St. Baldrick’s, the organization is a non-profit that supports research with the goal to “Conquer Childhood Cancers.” You can learn more about St. Baldrick’s HERE.

As a father of three, I am incredibly fortunate that our family has not had to deal with childhood cancer or any other serious medical issues for our three boys. As a parent, I can only imagine how hard it is.

St. Baldrick’s with the Hurricanes at PNC Arena

One of St. Baldrick’s biggest fundraisers is its annual head-shaving event during which volunteers agree to shave their heads in return for donations from supporters. The event both raises funds for childhood cancer research and also raises awareness for St. Baldrick’s and the need to fund childhood cancer research in general.

With the head-shaving event being at PNC Arena and part of a Canes game, many of the fundraisers are also part of our Canes hockey community.

You can find information about the Carolina Hurricanes St. Baldrick’s event before the Hurricanes game on March 13 and also a complete list of participants with the ability to donate HERE.

Please support Caniacs supporting childhood cancer research

I would also like to highlight and encourage our Canes and Coffee community to support a couple participants who are part of our Hurricanes hockey community.

If you or someone you know is also participating in St. Baldrick’s with the Hurricanes and would like a little bit of extra promotion here, please reach out to be added to this list.

Roman Gross

I have been a Canes fan since watching them play in 2006.  I also have been a partial season ticket holder in the past with my dad, and I have partial season tickets this year, so it is fun to watch them grow and fight for a playoff spot this season.

I am doing St. Baldrick’s because I have lost someone in my life to cancer. She was my Sunday school teacher, and she lost her battle with cancer a few years back. The feeling of losing someone that close that you knew for 8 years is heartbreaking, so I want to do St. Baldricks for two reasons. First is to honor her. And the other is realizing how hard it must be to lose someone close to you especially if it is a child which must be even harder to deal with. My hope is that we can find a cure for childhood cancer and that no parent will lose a child to cancer ever again. I believe that St. Baldrick’s can help us get to that point.

Roman’s St. Baldrick’s donation page.

Tyler I

My name is Tyler.  I am 13 years old and in 8th grade at Clayton Middle School.  I have been a Hurricanes fan since I was a preschooler.  We have been going to games since I was about 6 and now we get to as many games as we can.  My favorite player is Sebastian Aho.

I started shaving for St. Baldricks when I was 6.  My uncle had been doing it for a few years, and when I was 5 my dad shaved.  I told my mom that I wanted to do it the next year and the rest is history! This is my 7th year shaving which means I become a knight of the bald table!  Over the last 6 years I have raised $3,400.  I’m hoping to raise at least $600 this year and hit $4,000 raised!  My mom always says donate if you can, share friends’ pages or even better sign up to volunteer or become a shavee! It is always a lot of fun, and it is all for a great cause!

Tyler’s St. Baldrick’s donation page.

The Eye team

Our team consists of different kinds of Canes fans. I, myself didn’t really become a fan until the first Stanley Cup run in 2002. I remember going with my sister to watch Game 1 at the then-named ESA and watching on the jumbotron. After that I was hooked. My dad at first became a fan because I had become one. After watching a few games at home and going in person, he was hooked as well. My brother in law Edward has been a fan since my sister introduced him to our family (probably one of the reasons we get along so well.) Since most of our family are Hurricanes fans, my nephew has grown up only knowing Hurricanes hockey. My 2 friends I work with in The Eye Merchandising Department at PNC have been around hockey a lot longer than I have. Jordan has grown up with it and has a very encyclopedic knowledge of the game and every aspect of it. Both he and Lee have actually laced up skates and played the game we all love.  They have been 2 of the biggest Caniacs I have ever had the honor of knowing and being not just co-workers but friends.

Our main reason for participating in St. Baldrick’s is simple. We want to do whatever we can, give whatever we can to be able to help find a cure for not just kids’ cancer but cancer in general. It has touched all of our lives in one way or another. This event gives a chance to help those affected fight back. It gives us a chance to give these kids a chance to grow up and experience what life has in store for them — experience the feel of sand between their toes, the thrill of driving a car, the heartbreaks and joys of life. We believe everyone should have that chance.

The Eye’s team donation pages:

A challenge to donate right now

I am incredibly grateful to be part of the Canes and Coffee digital community and more broadly the Carolina Hurricanes hockey community.

Part of being part of a community is supporting each other especially in endeavors like this when people are unselfishly doing good and helping others.

I know from experience that often what happens when you read something like this is that you think it is a good cause and that you should support it at least a little. You have good intentions of doing exactly that later, but then life gets in the way, and you just never make it back to it despite your good intentions. Everyone has different financial situations in terms of ability to donate, and I respect people’s right to choose which causes they support financially knowing that just is not possible to support everything. So if this is not for you, that is okay. But if you are inclined to help, I strongly encourage you to take a couple minutes and do it right now, so life does not get in the way later.

Going with the mostly neglected part of Canes and Coffee’s theme, I hereby issue a coffee challenge. For those who pick up a nice higher-end coffee, I challenge you to skip it just one day and make a donation for that amount to one of the St. Baldrick’s participants listed above.

Please help this group of volunteers play a role in curing childhood cancer!

Go Canes!