SENIOR PREP HOCKEY CAPTAIN LAUNCHES TWO SERVICE PROJECTS

Back row (L to R) Ian Anderson '22, Sarah Voss '22, Grace Gainar '22, Nicholas Hayek '22 Front Row (L to R) Vija Tessman '22, Nina Padanilam '22 and Clara Morgan '22

Clara Morgan ’22

Nina Padanilam ’22

Senior Blends Passion for Hockey with

DESIRE TO GIVE BACK

Vince Stafford ’22 has taken the school’s mission to heart. He found a way to combine his passion for hockey with giving back and organized not one, but two service projects over the past year. The senior captain of the prep hockey team and Gilmour lifer is the first player in Gilmour’s history to have played at every level in the school’s hockey program. He began in Gilmour’s Mite Hockey program and has risen through the ranks, playing on the program’s top team, the U-18 AAA Prep team, since last year. His first service project benefited Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. He created and sold a team program and donated the proceeds. Stafford spent about 80 hours on the project, creating a profile for each of his teammates that included a player photo, their position, academic honors, hockey honors, favorite hockey memory and an interesting fact. In addition to selling the program itself, Stafford sold sponsorships in the program. In total, he raised approximately $5,000 for the local children’s hospital. Over the summer, Stafford was at it again. This time, he organized an afternoon of sled hockey for disabled athletes in the area. The event, held July 24 at The Floyd E. Stefanski Ice Center on Gilmour’s campus, provided adaptive sleds that enabled children and young adults from Youth Challenge, who have mobility challenges, to experience the sport that means so much to Stafford. He and other members of the Gilmour hockey program took the participants out on the ice, helping them skate using the adaptive sleds. Stafford partnered with U.S.A. Hockey, which provided the sleds for this inaugural day of sled hockey on campus. However, Stafford raised funds through sponsorships to fund the purchase of ice sleds and protective equipment that will be housed at Gilmour’s Stefanski Ice Center going forward. The funds will also pay for programming and ice time. Thanks to Stafford’s leadership, the hockey program will continue this sled hockey program annually as a team service project.