April 6, 2009
Hockey Humanitarian To Be Named Friday
CHN Staff Report
Frozen Four festivities this week will also include the announcement of the 2009 Hockey Humanitarian Award winner. The award will be presented Friday in conjunction with the Hobey Baker Award and the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge.
The Hockey Humanitarian Award is awarded annually to the college hockey player that "most personifies true community spirit through the selfless commitment of leadership, effort and time." Division I, III, men's and women's players are included in the process.
College hockey student-athletes from across the country are nominated and then narrowed down to a list of finalists. This is the 13th year of the award. Here are capsules of the 10 finalists:
Ryan Adler, Senior, Hobart
Spurred by an ad in a magazine, Adler sought to give back to the military by involving himself in the Wounded Warrior Project. Going further, Adler then created the Hobart Hockey Helpers, which, through various events, raised thousands of dollars to help severely injured service members and their families. Says Adler, “A great casualty should never be forgotten.”
Andrew Brolsma, Senior, Castleton State
Brolsma has been involved in volunteerism throughout his college career including mentoring at an elementary school and volunteering with the local hockey association. As campus president of the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society, Brolsma organized a national back to school supply collection for children overseas. As a result of his leadership, the Vermont National Guard flew a cargo plane full of materials to Afghanistan.
Greg Copeland, Senior, Marian
Copeland organized a ‘Pink Out’ night to raise money for cancer research, orchestrated a ‘sexual awareness week’ to profile the importance of public safety for women, held Halloween Trick or Treat events for underprivileged kids, and raised money to purchase food for needy families through ‘Cans Across the Conference.’ Says Copeland: “The best way to meet people? Get involved in the community.”
Ethan Cox, Junior, Colgate
Since his freshman year, Cox has led Colgate in numerous charitable efforts, including raising more than $12,000 in donations to local and national charities. His leadership helped raise a $25,000 donation to the American Cancer Society. Cox’s other activities included coordinating a holiday toy drive, a canned food drive for a local food shelf, Face-off Against Cancer Pledge Drive, and a MS Walk.
Missy Elumba, Senior, Northeastern
Elumba has perhaps made her biggest impact by traveling abroad to help the less fortunate in places like Mexico and India, where she spent the bulk of two successive summers. “We have so many blessings in life,” says Elumba, “why not take the blessings we have and use them to bless someone else?”
Eric Greene, Senior, Plattsburgh St.
Greene is involved with numerous charities including serving as co-chair of a local Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser, which raised more than $12,000. He is also actively involved in fundraising for the North Country Down Syndrome Association.
Crysti Howser, Senior, Yale
“Crysti understands that there are more important things in life than this game and that there are people who have less than she does…she wants those people to fulfill their dreams,” says Yale coach Hilary Witt. Howser is involved in many activities, including working with local homeless shelters through the Yale Sports Empowerment Program and volunteering significant time for Colleges Against Cancer and Relay for Life.
Jerad Kaufmann, Senior, Nebraska-Omaha
A goaltender, Kaufmann always gave freely of his time while he wasn’t tending the Mavericks net. But when a friend died overseas while serving in Iraq, Kaufmann was both saddened and inspired. He organized, from start to finish, two successive Military Appreciation Nights, which collectively raised nearly $25,000 for various military related charities. “It’s made me more appreciative of what I have,” says Kaufmann. “Life is bigger than the game.”
Jeff Lerg, Senior, Michigan State
A star both on and off the ice, Lerg has touched his community in numerous ways, dedicating his time to a wide-spanning community initiatives like Hike for Hospice, the Children’s Miracle Network and the Blow the Whistle on Asthma fundraiser. His greatest work though came in the form of the Spartan Buddies program, where Lerg and fellow MSU athletes visited critically/terminally ill children at an area hospital. Lerg was also a Big Brother to a local boy for nearly four years.
Dagney Willey, Senior, Minnesota
Willey has been involved with Big Brothers/Sisters for three years and served as a counselor at Camp Jornada, a camp for kids affected by cancer. Her passion to help children in need is further reflected in her participation in a children’s hospital hospice program, HopeKids and Relay for Life. And it was through her efforts that the team ‘adopted’ a family of five for the holidays, which resulted in many gift and monetary donations.
