cully's kids

by Marie Laska / / photos by Haney's Photography & Rick Westra

the true stars of the cully’s kids celebrity weekend

Albert Einstein perhaps said it best when he opined, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” For over ten years in the Fargo-Moorhead community, NHL Nashville Predators’ star Matt Cullen and his wife Bridget have embodied the selflessness and grace of this idea.

As founders of the Fargo-Moorhead non-profit charity Cullen Children’s Foundation, Matt and Bridget have been the driving force and inspiration behind the annual Cully’s Kids Celebrity Weekend fundraiser, a charitable event that has raised over $3.3 million of assistance for children and families fighting cancer (and other medical conditions) in the FM area, and which is now entering its final year. Along with a few to-be-announced surprises, this year’s schedule of events will commence on Friday June 27th with a celebrity golf tournament at the Oxbow Country Club, followed by the Cully’s Kids Picnic on June 28th at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo. Events will wrap up that evening with a silent auction, live auction and social, all being hosted at Ushers in Moorhead. With

Friday’s celebrity event featuring NHL stars Matt Cullen, Zach Parise, Eric Staal and Josh Harding, among others, the Cullens hope that the money raised will help to support the Cully’s Kids endowment fund for many years to come.

Bridget Cullen will be the fi rst to look outwards when describing the generous support that has helped to transform Cully’s Kids from an idea about “getting involved somehow” during Matt’s off-season from the NHL to a momentous community event that has thus far helped hundreds of children and families with the costs of fighting cancer and other medical conditions. As the executive director of the Cullen Children’s Foundation, Cullen describes how thankful she is that it is a board of members, rather than herself, that chooses the recipients from the multitudes of applications received, as she fi nds herself “wanting to fund everything.” As part of the screening process, the board, made up of committed community members Jeff Reed, Dale Lian, Nola McNeally, Michele Carney, Julie Kunka, Chris Myrvold and Terry Cullen, reviews all applications to ensure that they not only meet the appropriate guidelines, but that they also fit the Cullen’s mission statement of “providing fi nancial resources to organizations that support children’s healthcare needs, with an emphasis on cancer.” Thus far in the ten years since its inception, the foundation has granted fi nancial assistance to many community organizations, including the

Dakota Medical Foundation, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Riding on Angels Wings, the Ronald McDonald House in Fargo, HOPE Inc and the Sanford Foundation and Sanford Children’s Hospital. Specifically, in recent months the Cullen Children’s Foundation was able to donate $1 million to the Sanford Foundation to support the building of a specialized therapeutic room at the new Sanford Hospital with the intent to provide a child-life play area for in-patient children “where kids can just be kids.”

The strong support and involvement from the board (and also informally from within their own network of family and friends) has allowed the Cullens to manage the stressors of not only running a non-profit foundation, but also managing the strict schedule and demands of Matt’s NHL career as well as the hectic pace of raising three young boys – all of whom have chosen to play hockey - while living halfway across the country for much of the year. As Bridget explains, “the board is unbelievable. Every time I’ve had a baby, every time that Matt made the playoffs, the board has run the event.”

Though they currently reside in Nashville with their sons during the hockey season, Matt and Bridget still call the FargoMoorhead area “home” and spend their summers between North Dakota and Minnesota, as they have since they were kids. Initially meeting in the mid-nineties after being teamed up on a chemistry class project at Moorhead High School, both Matt and Bridget were star athletes in their own rights (Bridget played basketball while Matt focused on hockey), but had only vaguely known about each other until then. After high school, though they attended separate colleges and reunited only during summer breaks, their initial chemistry-class connection sustained and in 2004 they were united in marriage. Bridget explained how at that time they asked their guests to donate to their foundation in lieu of wedding gifts, showcasing their desire early on to help others and to give back to the community that they felt so connected to. Bridget explained how her parents and grandparents had influenced her from a very young age to “care about other people,” and that they had “instilled my values about being honest and giving me an overall sense of wanting to help others.” Bridget further expounded that “I’ve always been drawn to people that need help. I have a place in my heart for that.”

Along with their passion and commitment to their community and to helping others, Matt and Bridget have also maintained a strong focus on instilling similar values in their sons: Brooks, Wyatt and Joey (ages 7, 5 and 4 respectively). Though busy with hockey and with chores, the boys participate in volunteer events at the Cullen’s church and are given the opportunity to set aside a portion of their allowance (earned from completing chores) every week to place in the church offering plate. As Bridget explained, though the boys are young, they’re “getting it―a sense of perspective, on what giving is.” And while it’s not surprising that the boys have all chosen to play hockey, especially given the fact that Matt will consistently build them a backyard rink every winter, Bridget was amused to hear Wyatt declare that he was “going to play in the NHLs one day.” When asked what team he would play for, Wyatt proudly announced “the Minnesota Twins.”

In the eighteen years since Matt was fi rst drafted into the NHL, the Cullens have learned how to manage an atypical career and multiple moves by maintaining a strong focus on routine and family time. As Bridget explained, “we don’t know any different, but being one of the older wives now I feel like I have it down to a science.” Bridget describes how during the hockey season Matt will be provided with a very precise training schedule, but every night – when he’s not away or at a game – the family will have a sit-down dinner and each member will have a chance to discuss the high points and the low points of their day. Bridget emphasized that this instills in their sons the lesson that both adults and children alike have to learn how to get through the stressors and appreciate the positives in a day, while reaffi rming the family unit as a source of support for one another.

While acknowledging that the moves do get harder with their sons getting older, Bridget discusses how blessed they were that Matt was able to play for the Minnesota Wild from 2010-2013, keeping the Cullens close to home and to loved ones: “we were so spoiled and didn’t know how good we had it.” Glancing around at the piles of unpacked boxes and totes scattered throughout the main floor of their home from their recent return from Nashville, Bridget smiles, and states “overall we just try to make the most of every experience.”

Through their family focus and commitment and passion in living life to its fullest, an idea was birthed in 2003 that ultimately gave rise to the Cullen Children’s Foundation. During that timeframe Matt and Bridget found themselves in Florida where Matt had been contracted for two seasons to play for the Panthers. Meanwhile, up in Minnesota, Matt’s younger brother Mark went in for a routine physical and ended up being diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. Fortunately his cancer was caught early on and had not yet spread to his lymphatic system, but the scare motivated Matt and Bridget – who were already discussing ways to support a charitable event - to brainstorm ideas on how to become even more involved. The following year during the 2004-05 lockout season, Matt was playing in Italy and it was there that he and Bridget met a young boy named Jacopo who had been diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. The two events combined helped the Cullens to decide that they wanted to focus on helping children who were diagnosed with cancer. Though Jacopo unfortunately passed away in 2008, both Matt and Bridget feel to this day that his memory continues to live on through Cully’s Kids.

Through their involvement with the foundation the Cullens have met many children who ultimately were not able to survive their cancers. As Bridget explained, “it never gets easy knowing that a child has passed, but we feel blessed that we had gotten to know them. Seeing the smiles that are brought to their faces when they see Matt, that inspires me more than anything. You think ‘oh my gosh, we had a little bit to do with bringing that smile to their face.’” Bridget further emphasized that “they teach us more than we’ll ever be able to teach them; their spirits are inspirational.”

Acknowledging that the media-driven spirit of the celebrity event sometimes becomes overpowering, Bridget further stated that “though you can get caught up in how much money we’re raising and which celebrities have come out to support the cause, it’s always going to be first and foremost about the kids.”

Close friend and Cully’s Kids volunteer Vicky Westra agrees: “When you hear that there’ll be some ‘celebrity’ guests attending the event, it’s true. All kinds of NHL hockey players, current and formers stars, show up all the time. But make no mistake, the true stars of the Cully’s Kids events are Cully’s Kids.”

For the past seven years Vicky, her husband Rick Westra and their sons have been involved with the Cullen’s Children Foundation. Vicky describes how the Cully’s Kids weekend has become one of the highlights of their family’s summer, regardless of the heat and the unforgiving humidity at times: “it’s the third day of the event, and with the heat a factor all three days, we’re wearing out. But all you see are smiles everywhere. Because it doesn’t matter what your ‘battle’ is, cancer, or physical disability or childhood disease of one kind or another, Cully’s Kids show up to this event and participate to the fullest. And we forget. All of us forget about the battles, the illness, the scars… the heaviness of life sometimes. We forget, and become kids again through the joy being spread by one of Cully’s Kids. You can’t help it. They smile with their whole face, their whole hearts. And don’t tell them they can’t throw, or run or be a part of it. Because clearly they do, they are, they will be a part of it.”

Whether an individual is meeting the Cullens for the first time, or, like the Westras, has been a part of their life for many years, it is easy to see the strength of the partnership between Matt and Bridget and of their commitment to one another. This commitment to their union is also exemplified by their commitment to their families and friends, and to their efforts in giving back to the FargoMoorhead community. These efforts have resulted in a legacy that the Cullens live every day, continuously giving of themselves wholeheartedly through their foundation. Vicky Westra tells how Terry Cullen, Matt’s father, described taking a call from a father who had a son that played hockey, and had recently been injured and required hospitalization. This father asked if Matt would consider visiting his son, and Terry was able to easily say, “I know he will want to go as soon as possible.” Vicky expounds upon this further, stating “That is the part nobody sees. Matt and Bridget visit, talk, call these families often. The event (Cully’s Kids Celebrity Weekend) is once a year, but the caring is year round.” Vicky describes the get well cards, made by the Cullens’ sons, that get taken to the hospital for the sick children, and Bridget’s “late night emails and phone calls to moms and dads of the kids, with encouraging and uplifting words. It’s the work of a dedicated and grace-fi lled woman, whose love and giving knows no bounds, no time constraints, no signs of ever slowing down.”

Though Cully’s Kids Weekend is in its fi nal year, Bridget explains how she hopes that the endowment fund will remain selfsustaining and that people will continue to give to support the foundation. Describing the “mixed emotions” in knowing that this will be their fi nal big weekend event, Bridget discusses feeling “excited for the future and the next steps,” especially now that their sons are getting older and family life is becoming busier. Though hesitant to elaborate on what their future plans will hold, Bridget’s eyes light up when sharing the Cullens’ hope of remaining close to Moorhead and of continuing to support and plan smaller annual events such as the Cully’s Kids Picnic.

While 2014 may be the farewell year for the Cully’s Kids Celebrity Weekend fundraiser, the legacy left behind by Matt and Bridget in their decade-long labor of love continues on. As Vicky Westra explains: “it is clear these kids are more than Cully’s Kids, they are an extension of the Cullen family.”

For more details on the upcoming Cully’s Kids Celebrity Weekend or to donate to the Cullen Children’s Foundation, please go to www.cullyskids.com