Happy Holidays & New Year

We hope this letter finds you and yours well. We wanted to start by THANKING YOU for being part of the HLF journey. 2023 has been a memorable year and below you will find some highlights

HLF Young Ambassador Program 2023

We started this program to inspire youth to give back to their communities but every year it always end up them inspiring us. This year was no exception.

January 2023 our 8th class of ambassadors joined us for a welcome event in NYC hosted by 400 Capital. They received an overview of the program and HLF. They also attended a public speaking workshop run by Bespoke Education. Read the full article HERE.

In March the HLFYAs participated in a virtual event with Price Waterhouse Cooper’s (PwC) and the Founders of Hockey Helps. The ambassadors learned about grant making and participated in a grant making competition where each team pitched for the projects they wanted to fund. The selected projects were funded after the event. Read the full article HERE.

In May HLF hosted two separate events with Food Bank for NYC, i) Virtual Hunger Simulation and ii) Mobile Food Pantry distribution event in the Bronx together with Henrik. Read the full article HERE.

HLFYAs participated in Hockey in Harlem’s Equipment Day in September. Read the full article HERE.

New York Presbyterian Children’s Hospital invited the HLFYA’s for a career and birthday card making service activity in September. Read the full article HERE.

The 2023 class met to celebrate their incredible impact in November at the Madison Square Garden hosted by the New York Rangers and Garden of Dreams Foundation. The ambassadors got a chance to present their work to Henrik, heard from HLF alumni as well as professionals from the Madison Square Garden Company and the Garden of Dreams Foundation. The morning ended with a private tour of MSG. Read the full article HERE.

Total Impact of the 2023 Class of HLFYA

1) Over 300 hours of community service.

2) Over $14,800 raised for various organizations whose mission aligns with HLF’s.
3) Many incredible independent service projects, check them out here under their profiles HERE.The HLFYA year ended on a high note with 2022 HLFYA participant and 2023 HLFYA Alumni, Ilan Shterenberg, delivering a themed adaptive dream bike to Garden of Dreams child Emma funded by another online fundraiser he ran in the fall through HLF. Read the full article HERE.

We also want to take the opportunity say a heartfelt Thank You to Mathew H Valenza Foundation for their generous support to the HLF Young Ambassador Program and the S.A.V.E. Scholarship. Read the full article HERE.

Community Partner Work in 2023

For almost 10 years HLF has worked closely with a few selected community partners. Below is an overview of 2023 highlights.

Food Bank for NYC
We are a proud supporter of the campus pantry and the mobile pantry program that the Food Bank for NYC runs. In the 2022/23 school year our grant enabled Food Bank to provide 31,300 nourishing meals to 400 children and their families.

The partnership continues in the 2023/24 school year with a renewed support of the campus and mobile pantry program.

Garden of Dreams Foundation
In the 2022/23 NHL Hockey Season HLF through the Garden of Dreams Foundation sent 216 children and their families to 5 NYR games, 2 Knicks games and 2 Christmas Spectacular shows.

In the current season (2023/24) HLF is hosting children and their families for 4 separate NYR games in Henrik’s Crease. We love receiving the updates from GODF with the attendees smiling faces.

Ronald McDonald Barnfond
In 2022 HLF supported the renovation of two kitchens at the Gothenburg House, with 4 kitchen stations in each. These kitchens had not been renovated since the house was built in 1999. The house serves approximately 900 families per year. The renovation was completed in 2023. Read the full article HERE.

In 2023 HLF also renewed our support to Ronald McDonald Barnfond. We look forward to keep you updated on this process. Our funding will be used to update and adapt the playground at the Ronald McDonald House in Huddinge.

New York Presbyterian Children’s Hospital
It wasn’t just the HLF Young Ambassadors that were welcomed back in person with our friends at the NYP post the pandemic. Also Henrik visited the hospital in December and met with children and their families and staff.

2024 will mark a significant milestone for HLF as we will celebrate 10 years. More to come in the months ahead. In the meantime, we will look forward to another memorable year together.