Hiway Credit Union launches Hockey Kids4Kids, supports children with disabilities

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Sports are a wonderful way to bring people together, and one credit union in Minnesota found an innovative way to combine people’s love of hockey and serving their community.

Minnesota-based Hiway Credit Union (soon to become Blaze Credit Union, in partnership with SPIRE Credit Union) recently launched its sixth season of Hiway Hockey Kids4Kids, an award-winning community initiative that helps raise awareness for Gillette Children’s and encourages youth hockey players throughout Minnesota to raise funds for kids with disabilities and complex medical conditions.

Hiway Credit Unions’ Kent Wipf shared more with us about their incredible collaboration with the Minnesota Wild:

The story:

The innovative program was introduced in 2017 as a collaboration between Hiway Credit Union®, Minnesota Hockey and the Minnesota Wild. Since the program’s inception, dozens of teams and hundreds of youth hockey players have raised over $130,000 for Gillette Children’s. The Minnesota Wild’s ambassador for this year is Captain Jerod Spurgeon, replacing Matt Dumba who been the program’s Wild ambassador for the past two seasons.

“Hiway Credit Union has long supported Gillette Children’s and through Hockey Kids4Kids and our extraordinary partnership with the Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Hockey, we have been able to invite hockey families, young athletes and communities throughout the state to join us in our support of the kids and families who benefit from the great work being done at Gillette Children’s,” said Hiway President and CEO Dave Boden.

Hiway Hockey Kids4Kids inspires youth hockey teams to community service by encouraging them to develop creative fundraisers on behalf of Gillette Children’s and help kids who may not be able to play hockey due to complex medical conditions or injuries. Over the years teams have held bake sales, had pancake breakfasts, bagged groceries, made sandwiches, sold game programs, held “chuck-a-puck” contests along with many other creative fund-raising initiatives. Teams that raise $500 or more are then qualified to win a one-of-a-kind team party in a suite at the Minnesota Wild. This season, the suite night will be on March 30, 2024 when the Wild host the Stanley Cup Champions, Vegas Golden Knights.

The winning team is selected at random and also gets to participate in post-game meet and greet with select Minnesota Wild players and team personnel. All teams that participate in the program are invited to complimentary skate sessions at the Xcel Energy Center later in the season and each member of any team that raises at least $500 receives a limited-edition Minnesota Wild-Hockey Kids4Kids branded cap. In 2022-23, the Roseville Bantam B1 team led the overall fundraising efforts for the season, bringing in $9,457 for Hockey Kids4Kids. Two other teams, Lakeville South Bantam C and Edina Rush – Mite 1, topped the $2,000 mark in fundraising this season with two additional teams (Rock Ridge Wolverines Mini Mites and Hastings Squirt C Gold) both raising over $1,000.

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