Detroit Red Wings: Charities Feature

The Detroit Red Wings, under the guidance of Mike Illitch, have been an organization that strives in the idea of giving back to the community. The Detroit Red Wings foundation is a foundation that has designed multiple charities for specific players with a specific goal in mind. Here is a look at just some of the multiple charities from each player and what they have to offer from the Detroit Red Wings official site:

Abby’s All Stars
Since 2012-13, Justin Abdelkader hosts one elementary student and his/her guardian at every Red Wings home game (does not include playoffs). The Red Wings randomly select a student who has submitted an entry form for the Red Wings for Reading program.

DeKeyser’s Hometown Heroes
Danny DeKeyser hosted a military member (active or retired) and a guest at every Red Wings home game this season. Tickets were donated through the Detroit Red Wings Foundation to individual military members.

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14’s Friends
Gustav Nyquist hosted families staying at Ronald McDonald House Detroit and Ann Arbor (10 guests from each house) in a suite on Nov. 9. Families were selected by the respective Ronald McDonald House.

Helm’s Heroes
Darren Helm hosted a youth hockey player with a medical condition and his/her guardian at every Red Wings home game this season with two donated tickets through the Detroit Red Wings Foundation.

Kyle Quincey: Greening of Detroit
This season, Kyle Quincey supported the local nonprofit, Greening of Detroit, and made an appearance during a warmer month to plant trees alongside members of the organization. He made an appearance for David Yurman with 10% of the merchandise sold at the events to benefit Greening of Detroit, as selected by Quincey, raising $14,385 for the nonprofit.

Pav’s Pals
Since 2012-13, Pavel Datsyuk hosts a family through Henry Ford’s SandCastles program at every Red Wings home game. The family has recently suffered the loss of a parent. SandCastles selects the family for each game.

Tatar’s Totes
Tomas Tatar donated $100 per point during the 2014-15 season to the Gleaners Community Food Bank’s BackPack Program. Their BackPack Program sends a bag with six meals home with hungry elementary students. Tatar’s 56 points this season resulted in a $5,600 donation to Gleaners Community Food Bank’s BackPack program. Each recipient school typically receives about 100 BackPack bags every week. Tatar’s donation will provide one school with 11 weeks’ worth of BackPack bags.

Zetterberg Foundation Suite
Since 2011-12, Henrik Zetterberg donates his Zetterberg Foundation Suite to children’s charities for most Red Wings home games and a select number of other events at Joe Louis Arena. The respective charities provide a donation letter for the calendar year based on the number of games they received the suite. The bulk of the games are donated to Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit. A handful of games are donated to charities specific to the community relations theme night or a unique request asked of the Zetterberg Foundation.

Those are just a few of the foundations charities so be sure to check out the Detroit Red Wings official site for the rest. The Red Wings also do another cool charity feature that is highlighted here:

The ability to give back to the community is something that should not be taken lightly and the fact that the Red Wings have been able to give back to the metro Detroit area cannot be unnoticed. At times we even as fans forget whats really important and some of the charities and video I listed really get back to what is truly important in life. You have to admire some of the players being such role models to kids and it cant help but make you smile. Today we look at things from a lighter perspective and really honor those who have helped make the world a better place in the Detroit Red Wings organization.

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