Checkers players, staff members and Chubby were busy throughout February with a season-high 38 appearances in the Charlotte community. Despite playing just three home games during the month, the team raised more than $60,000 for local non-profit organizations at events such as the sixth annual Pink in the Rink, Hockey Fights Cancer Night, the inaugural Meat N’ Greet charity banquet and the Checkers’ and Cannon School’s “Heroes for Houses” fundraiser.
For more information on the Checkers’ community initiatives and how you can get involved, please visit www.gocheckers.com/community.
The inaugural Meat ’N Greet Charity Banquet took place Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse uptown. More than 100 Checkers fans, staff and players were in attendance, raising $9,000 for the Charlotte Checkers Charitable Foundation.
On Feb. 22, Checkers players Brett Sutter, Zac Dalpe, Justin Soryal and Mathieu Roy hosted a group of Special Olympics athletes at Sports Connection in Ballantyne for bowling and pizza.
The games on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25, set all-time Checkers attendance records and made up one of the most charitable weekends in Charlotte hockey history. The team collected more than $42,000 for local charitable organizations over the two-game set, which included the annual Pink in the Rink game ($30,000), Hockey Fights Cancer Night ($5,000) and a second fundraising partnership between the Checkers and Cannon School dubbed “Heroes for Houses” ($7,000). In addition to these charity events, the Checkers hosted a group of 1,900 boy scouts and family members to the Feb. 24 game, with more than 300 staying for the second annual Boy Scout Sleepover.
Zach Boychuk, John Muse, Matthew Pistilli and Justin Soryal stopped by the Charlotte Humane Society on Tuesday, Feb. 14, to visit the animals, help out around the shelter and promote the third annual Pooch Party (March 18).
Checkers players, staff and Chubby visited 23 area schools in February, including Lebanon Road Elementary and Long Creek Elementary as part of the Wells Fargo Reading First program and Barringer Elementary, Newell Elementary and Paw Creek Elementary as part of the Science of Hockey program.
This Community update is brought to you by Goodrich Corporation, who is a proud sponsor of all Checkers community initiatives. Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a global supplier of systems and services to the aerospace, defense and homeland security markets. With 2007 revenues of $6.4 billion, Goodrich is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., and employs more than 24,000 people worldwide in approximately 90 facilities across 16 countries.
