Today’s athletes are becoming more philanthropic
In the past, local athletes would hold blanket tosses, donkey baseball to support causes
It seems athletes are becoming more philanthropic. It may be because they garner more media attention for their efforts at helping other compared to other high profile walks of life like entertainers, business people and politician.
Recently LeBron James opened an $8-million school for at-risk kids in Akron, Ohio, his hometown.
It will offer an opportunity for more than 300 children, who may have fallen through the cracks, to receive a quality education and an opportunity for a better life.
Earlier NFL star J.J. Watt’s campaign raised more than $37 million for Hurricane Harvey victims’ fund.
Members of all three of Toronto’s major teams, the Leafs, Raptors and Jays, do an outstanding job at raising funds for many charities and funds in southern Ontario.
Locally, the Junior A lacrosse Lakers, in conjunction with the senior Lakers, held a collection at the Lakers’ first playoff game for a young lacrosse player, Nolan Grandel, who was about to have a life-changing operation on his leg.
These are just a sampling of all the efforts teams and individual players do to help the less fortunate. Most of these projects elicit support from the fans of these players and teams.
The tragedy of the Humboldt bus crash this spring spawned a national and international appeal heavily supported by teams, to help the families of the players and team officials who perished in this crash and to support those who survived. Not since Terry Fox has a campaign galvanized Canada like this incident last spring.
Teams and individual athletes in Peterborough have an outstanding record of helping raise funds and awareness for a wide variety of causes.
Some may remember how the city rallied to help the families back in 1951 after the tragic Zack’s building fire killed four firemen, one a volunteer. The local Timbermen lacrosse team, on its way to the city’s first Mann Cup, held a special night for the fire victims.
In those days both the lacrosse team and hockey teams regularly held what they called “blanket tosses.”
For a special cause, young players would carry around a blanket at lacrosse games in Miller Bowl and hockey games in the Civic Arena and fans would throw money from their seats into the blankets.
Many local teams over the years over the years have held special games or events to help a charity or special causes and the Petes’ charity efforts are second to none in the OHL.
After the 2004 flood, former Pete player Chris Pronger, then an NHL star, contacted the Petes volunteering to personally sign every copy of a special poster to raise funds for the flood effort.
I remember being part of an organization that once held a lacrosse game on skates to help a cause.
Years ago donkey baseball was an event that regularly attracted large crowds to assist a group. Players had to jump on a donkey after they hit the ball to ride to first. The unpredictable donkeys made for an entertaining evening.
There just seems to be something in the makeup of athletes, from those that pay to play a sport to those that make millions of dollars displaying their talents, to use their position or fame to help others.
Human interest stories in the media about some team or athlete doing something special for someone in need are even more frequent today.
In this era where fundraising has become an essential part of health and social welfare, the way the athletic communities have stepped up far outstrips the efforts of other segments of our diverse society.