We need your assistance to save a Yale University student’s life. Mandi Schwartz, a 22-year old member of the Yale women’s ice hockey team, has recently been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She is currently back home in Saskatchewan undergoing chemotherapy, and within the next 60 days will need a stem cell transplant to survive. We have not yet located a donor who is a perfect match.
Under the leadership of Dr. Tedd Collins, a New Haven-based clinical immunologist, we are undertaking a world-wide search for cord blood and bone marrow donors. In addition to helping Mandi, these donors could also save the lives of many others with life-threatening illnesses. Dr. Collins has launched the “Become Mandi’s Hero” campaign to coordinate our efforts to find a donor.
HP4K’s own Brennan Turner has teamed up with Dr. Collins to reach out to communities across North America. We hope that you can help too. We are asking for assistance in locating potential donors.
Some of the best ways you can help are by doing any of the following:
Learn more about the cause. Visit www.BecomeMandisHero.org and join the “Become Mandi’s Hero” Facebook group to learn about Mandi and the importance of being a cord blood or bone marrow donor. This is also the place to post messages of encouragement for Mandi, since her family checks it for her regularly while she is undergoing chemotherapy. You can also read some of the articles that have been written about Mandi by visiting www.yalebulldogs.com/mandi/
Contact OB/GYN offices or delivery hospitals. Through the “One Hour Hero” program, we are asking volunteers to spend one hour contacting OB/GYN offices or delivery hospitals to explain what we are doing. You will then ask them if they would help us by giving our postcard brochure to expectant moms that fit our needs — those that will be having their babies within the next 60 days and will give birth to babies of Mandi’s ancestry. For more information, visit http://www.becomemyhero.org/Mandi_Schwartz/One_Hour_Hero.pdf.
Donate the cord blood from your child’s birth. This process is free and harmless for all involved, and it could save a life. In many cases the umbilical cords that could save someone like Mandi’s life wind up getting thrown away. If you are expecting a child, visit www.BecomeMandisHero.org to learn more about the cord blood donation process.
Spread the word about the importance of being a donor. Contact everyone you know — especially media outlets — to tell them Mandi’s story and how bone marrow or cord blood donation could help save lives. Use phone calls, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and any other means you can think of to contact people. Refer them to www.BecomeMandisHero.net for further information. Note that donors of German, Russian or Ukrainian descent are most likely to be matches for Mandi, so we are particularly interested in reaching out to those communities.
Join the bone marrow donor registry, and encourage others to sign up. The test to be a potential bone marrow donor is simple and painless — it consists of swabbing your cheeks. Websites such as www.marrow.org and www.onematch.com contain the necessary information for you to find a drive near you or to request a kit be sent to you.
We are hoping that by informing you of this urgent need, we will help save Mandi’s life and the lives of many others. We appreciate any help you can provide. If you have any further questions, or other ideas about how you can help, please e-mail info@BecomeMandisHero.net.
Kicks For Kids was founded in 1995 by Doug Pelfrey, a former Cincinnati Bengals’ kicker. The mission of the organization is to provide local, at-risk children with opportunities to pursue their dreams.
Recently, KFK purchased 16 acres of land in Fairfield, Ohio that will serve as its own youth complex, and KFK has invested nearly $1.25 million in the initiative. The property will enable KFK to increase its interactive programs by offering facilities that are accessible to children who have handicaps, as well as by providing first-class fields/courts that allow for the hosting of free, quality camps — beginning this summer with instructional sports camps. The goal for these new programs will be to improve children’s chances for success in athletics and in life.
This year’s 12th annual RGI River Run had nearly 1,000 participants and raised more than $30,000 for Cincinnati-area children’s charities. HP4K members Jimmy Kilpatrick, Doug Krantz and Scott Reynolds volunteered in the activities tent the day of the race, and even turned the ECHL’s Kelly Cup into a giant bubble solution holder.
Scott Reynolds recently joined Autism Speaks to show HP4K’s support for an outstanding organization working tirelessly to change the future for all who struggle with autism.
Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disorder, and every 20 minutes another family receives the news that their child has autism.
Spending time in the “Grand Club” tent (for walkers who raised $1,000 or more), Scott hung out with families, signed autographs and helped raise awareness about the importance of autism research. 4,000 people participated in the event and more than $240,000 was raised. To learn more about how you can get involved, click here.
On May 22, Cincinnati Cyclones players Dustin Sproat, Jamie Coghlan and Chris Morehouse, along with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers’ Brett Westgarth, spent time at the inaugural Youth Wellness Camp, presented by the Ndukwe Foundation. More than 200 children from nonprofit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area participated in an interactive health expo and fitness camp led by the Foundation. NFL player Rocky Boiman and the Ignition Athletic Performance Group were also in attendance.
The Ndukwe Foundation was founded in 2009 and is dedicated to providing resources to help local communities establish lives enriched with wellness. Chinedum continually realizes the benefits of healthy living in his daily interactions and career, committed to educating youth on the benefits of healthy eating, staying active and setting goals to achieve optimal wellness.
HP4K’s Oren Eizenman and teammates organized a fun, finale celebration of the reading program Oren launched at Bristow Middle School in Stockton, California this spring by holding a floor hockey game in the school’s gym.
Students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade were challenged to read as much as possible between February 24 and March 30.
Top readers from each grade were awarded with the chance to play against the Stockton Thunder, and proceeds from all ticket sales from the event were donated back to Bristow’s reading program.
Congrats to everyone involved for putting together such a fun, successful community event!
HP4K member, T.J. McElroy, is donating his time and talent this month as a volunteer coordinator for DinoMights, a Minnesota organization dedicated to helping urban youth develop physical, academic, social and spiritual excellence.
“Basically, I’m in charge of two volunteer shifts at Augsburg Ice Arena in Minneapolis,” McElroy told us. “I’m getting groups together to help inner-city first graders tie their skates and then get them out on the ice for the first time. These learn-to-skate sessions introduce the kids to DinoMights and many of them will officially join the program this fall.”
DinoMights is also affiliated with the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone program, an initiative that provides support and unique programming to nonprofit youth hockey organizations across North America that are committed to offering children of all backgrounds opportunities to play hockey.
“What’s cool about it is that it’s much more than a hockey program – it’s a family and a way of life. The high school graduation rate for kids that go through the DinoMights program is 85%, as compared to the 55% average seen by the Minneapolis Public Schools.”
“The Foundation was started upon the passing of a hockey player who was dear to me and so many people who knew her,” said McElroy. “We are volunteering with DinoMights to carry on her legacy as a giver and a leader.”
For more information on how to get involved with the DinoMights program, click here. To see a photo gallery of T.J. McElroy helping out with the program this spring, click here.
The Stockton Record’s Sports staff has taken notice of HP4K’s California contingent and recently ran a story highlighting the guys’ involvement at Hoover Elementary School.
Reporter Scott Linesburgh interviewed HP4K members Daryl Marcoux and Oren Eizenman about their weekly road hockey clinics with groups of students in third through sixth grade:
“It’s a lot of fun, and this is about the kids,” Marcoux said. “They are great, and they really enjoy themselves learning the game.”
“We have as much fun as they do, trust me,” Eizenman said. “It’s really gratifying. The whole idea is to do something in the communities where we play and make it fun for the kids.”
Click here to read the full-text article, then check out the accompanying video for some live action footage and funny commentary from the kids.
HP4K member Oren Eizenman and his fellow teammates are gearing up for the finale celebration of the reading program Oren organized at Bristow Middle School in Stockton, California.
Students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade were challenged to read, read, read as much as possible between February 24 and March 30.
The top six readers from each grade level who have read the most books and earned the highest number of points from AR reader tests will be awarded with the chance to play a floor hockey game against the Stockton Thunder in the Bristow Middle School gym.
The event will be open to the public and all money raised from ticket sales will be donated back to Bristow’s reading program.
Teachers, staff and students alike have been doing their part to read like crazy at Bristow, and we can’t wait to hear how the big game turns out!
Check back in the coming weeks for follow-up details and pictures from the event.
Also, stay tuned for more information on how YOU can start a reading initiative for students in your community…
Cincinnati’s extension of HP4K is in the process of setting up a partnership with Most Valuable Kids, a nonprofit organization that brings smiles to kids faces by offering charitable children’s organizations access to professional and collegiate sports and entertainment events through an online ticket donation system.
MVK facilitates the donation and distrubution of unused tickets to kids who would enjoy the opportunity to go to an event, but would otherwise not be able to because of the high costs associated with tickets. Tickets are distributed to kids (ages 18 and under) through local organizations that focus on children in low-income and underserved households.
HP4K is very excited about the possibility of working closely with MVK. Look for more news about our initiatives in the coming months!
HP4K members/Cincinnati Cyclones players recently partnered with a youth hockey team from the Cincinnati Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to give a group of underprivileged children from the Cincinnati area a unique opportunity to learn about hockey.
Dozens of kids, including members from the US Bank Boys & Girls Club in Avondale and the Buenger Boys & Girls Club in Newport, KY, came out to participate alongside local youth hockey players.
HP4K members (Jason Jozsa, Jimmy Kilpatrick, Doug Krantz, Chris Morehouse, Scott Reynolds, Dustin Sproat and Mark Van Guilder) helped the children suit up with skates, sticks and helmets, and taught participants how to skate, pass and shoot.
“It was the first time many of these kids had ever been on the ice,” Sproat commented. “HP4K is about positively impacting the lives of children in our community and events like this allow us to spread the spirit of giving back beyond our professional members to youth hockey players, introducing our mission to a new generation. We love working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, an amazing organization we want to continue to support in any way possible.”
A pizza party and autograph signing followed the event — everyone involved had a blast — and we look forward to making this a regular HP4K event.
Click here to check out a photo gallery from the event.
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