Pros Give Back

Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler pledges $30,000 to Chicago-area programs after the South Side’s Jackie Robinson West baseball team represented the United States in the Little League World Series. Cutler has agreed to donate $15,000 to the baseball team through his foundation, as well as another $15,000 to underprivileged Chicago youths with diabetes in the team’s name.

Tyler Seguin hosts Charity Golf Classic

Dallas Stars centreman Tyler Seguin hosted The Fourth Period's 6th Annual Charity Golf Classic last week to benefit the Derrek Moseychuk Fund.

Derrek is one of Tyler's closest friends. He broke his neck in a car accident on December 28th, 2012, and is now a quadriplegic.

This past season Seguin teamed up with the Southwest Wheelchair Athletic Association to lease a suite for each Stars home game and donated it to people who have suffered severe spinal cord injuries.

The San Jose Sharks are no strangers to the playoffs making their 10th consecutive appearance, but they are also no strangers to Santa Clara County. Through the Sharks Foundation, members of the Sharks organization continue to get out into the community whenever they can.

“The whole team are just really good guys and understand the importance of giving back,” said Sharks Foundation manager Jeff Cafuir.

“It’s funny because a lot of time people ask how many community appearances do they have to do in their contract and we tell people it’s not written in their contract that they have to do a certain amount, it’s something the guys have the option of doing and more often than not they choose to help out and do what they can.”

The Sharks Foundation was created in 1994 in an effort to increase their organization impact on Santa Clara County. The players, coaches, and staff invest time in the community with the hope of enhancing lives.

Tommy Wingels may just be getting his NHL career underway, but the 25-year-old Evanston, Illinois native has already made an impact and a name for himself throughout the league in just his second full season with the San Jose Sharks. He has already been the Sharks’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and a nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for his work with You Can Play, an organization he’s stood by since its inception.

NBA tips off holiday season with #NBAGiveBIG

This season the NBA launched its first-ever social media photo mosaic at www.NBA.com/NBAGiveBIG to celebrate charitable efforts around the world. The program aims to encourage great work in the community during the holidays with a simple message: Give. Share. Inspire.

Temeka Johnson of the Seattle Storm to host An Assist of Hope. 

It doesn’t come as a surprise that someone who is a former WNBA Rookie of the Year and a one-time WNBA champion works just hard off the court as she does on it. Seattle Storm guard Temeka Johnson is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and loves to help out in the community as much as she can, especially close to home. On Saturday, November 23, 2013, Johnson will host An Assist Of Hope at the Oakland Baptist Church in Kenner, Louisiana.

Mike Green receives the James Brown Impact Award for his involvement in the community.

Green, who is entering his ninth season with the Capitals, has devoted a lot of his time to community and charitable services for a variety of organizations in need. He created the So Kids Can program with DC 101’s Elliot Segal to benefit youth-focused non-profit organizations. Since its inception, So Kids Can has donated nearly $250,000 to various charities.

Who will be rewarded?

Will Bruin takes on larger role with Dynamo, spearheads 2013 Bald is Beautiful campaign

For the fifth straight year the Houston Dynamo and Dynamo Charities, presented by Halliburton Charitable Foundation, launched the Bald is Beautiful campaign, a campaign designed to raise money and awareness for children’s cancer research. The campaign, which is spearheaded by Dynamo players Will Bruin and Mike Chabala, benefits the Curing Children’s Cancer Fund, an organization with a mission to find a cure for childhood cancer by providing financial support for some of the country’s leading pediatric cancer researchers.

The campaign includes two key events this year: A Celebrity Pour and head-shaving event at The Dogwood, which took place on August 13, and a possible record setting head-shaving event which will take place before the Dynamo home game against the Seattle Sounders this weekend on Saturday, August 17, 2013.  

This past weekend, former and current NHL players came together at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario, for a Parkinson’s disease fundraiser. As part of the fundraiser to help raise money and awareness for Parkinson’s, the players joined in on a roasting of NHL legend Bobby “the Golden Jet” Hull.

Steve Ludzik, a former NHL player and coach living with Parkinson’s, plays a big role in putting the event together. As someone who always speaks up for the players and is respected around the league, the players returned the favour Friday night by showing up to help raise money towards the Hotel Dieu Shaver Foundation – Steve Ludzik Centre for Parkinson’s Rehab in St. Catharines, Ontario.

“These events are going to raise money for a good cause and that’s what it’s all about.” - 1985 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Gerry Cheevers.