Teaming Up with Hockey Star Kris Letang to Help the Community

 

Teaming Up With Kris Letang

We are proud of the work we’ve done with hockey defenseman Kris Letang throughout the years to support our community. Whether it’s encouraging pet adoptions at local animal shelters, promoting physical activity with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western PA, or making sure families have the food they need through the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, it's an honor to help contribute to causes that are close to our heart.

You can learn more about all of our projects with Kris below.

Animal Friends

Together with Kris we’ve donated over $25,000 to Animal Friends over the past several years. This can cover the cost of:

  • 500 spay/neuter surgeries
  • 1,200 days of care, food, and shelter for an animal (or one day of food and shelter for 1200 animals)
  • Core vaccines for 3,000 animals
  • 120,000 meals through their Chow Wagon Pet Food Bank

For several years we also sponsored the Penguins & Paws Calendar, featuring your favorite hockey players posing with adorable furry friends. Proceeds from the calendar – over $80,000 – benefitted Animal Friends.

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Food insecurity means that a household can't provide enough food for each family member to lead an active life. Right now in our region, one in five families face food insecurity. We want to help change that.

That's why we've continued our long-standing partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank by teaming up with Pittsburgh Penguins player Kris Letang to provide up to 75,000 free, nutritious meals to our neighbors.

Being hungry and not having access to the right kinds of food puts people—especially children—at risk for a number of serious health and behavioral issues, such as:

  • Hospitalizations
  • Longer in-patient stays
  • ADHD
  • Increased risk of suicide
  • And more

The best way to fight this problem is by working together. There are many ways to get involved, including donating, volunteering, and holding a food drive. You can visit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s website to learn more.

And, if you or someone you know is in need of food assistance, be sure to reach out to your local food bank. They’re there to help.

Supporting Boys & Girls Clubs

The Boys & Girls Club is an organization near and dear to our hearts because of all it does to help local children. The clubs provide tutoring and homework help, computer training, sports, fitness and recreation opportunities, arts programs, summer programming, mentoring, and a safe place to be with friends.

This year, we worked with Kris to promote bicycle riding and bicycle safety at the Shadyside and LaRosa Boys & Girls Clubs. We donated bike helmets to the clubs and discussed proper helmet fit. Bicycling is a great way to incorporate physical activity into your day, but doing so safely is crucial. Bicycle helmets are estimated to cut the risk of traumatic brain injury in half when worn properly in the event of an accident.

Last year, we were honored to work alongside Kris and the LaRosa Boys & Girls Club to build a sports court for playing games such as deck hockey — and we are proud to continue supporting the great work they do.

Limited-Edition T-Shirt Benefits Playworks

Throughout the 2017 National Hockey League season, fans were able to purchase a limited edition Kris Letang T-shirt online that benefitted Playworks. To make sure that even more local children have these crucial play opportunities, our law firm matched funds spent on T-shirts up to $15,000.

Every T-shirt sold helped Playworks’ mission, which is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play. Every dollar donated to the nonprofit helps it realize its vision: that every child has access to safe, fun, healthy play every day.

The results are dramatic — the program helps reduce bullying, increases time for teaching and learning, and provides students with the skills and opportunities to develop through play both at recess and in class.

In 2017-18, Playworks Pennsylvania reached more than 33,000 students in elementary schools and youth-serving organizations with four levels of integrated services that rely on the support of skilled adults—whether supplied by Playworks or trained by Playworks—who teach children the social skills necessary to succeed in the classroom and in life.