ERIE OTTERS’ CHILDREN’S GRIEF AWARENESS NIGHT
I helped to spearhead this first-of-its-k/ind event in sports. Children’s Grief Awareness Night was a night to educate and equip the community about children’s grief and these children’s need for support while honoring these children and their loved ones who have died. Leading up to the event, a press conference at Erie City Hall where Mayor Schember was presented with a Children’s Grief Awareness Night jersey, news outlets featured the event, we hyped our Children’s Grief Awareness Player to Watch (Elias Cohen - who shared his own personal grief story), and there was a “jersey bet” between the Highmark Caring Place and Children’s Grief Center in Midland, Michigan (closest grief center to the team the Otters were playing, the Saginaw Spirit).
During the event, the Otters wore Children’s Grief Awareness Day-themed warm up jerseys (which were later auctioned off), a grieving child and his family did the puck drop before the game, there was a moment of silence to remember loved ones and to show support for grieving children, and Children’s Grief Awareness Day and the Highmark Caring Place were featured several times during the game including interviews with staff during the intermissions.
The jersey auction raised $6,970 for the Highmark Caring Place in Erie, PA. Also, one jersey from the night was donated to each of the Highmark Caring Place’s four sites to be displayed.
Overall, the event was an overwhelming success, that it was held again in 2023 (elements from that can be found here too)!