EXPANDS TO NINE AREA RINKS

Ike Richman

The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, created by Flyers founder Ed Snider as a personal commitment to teach children important life lessons, has surpassed 1,000 participants with the addition of five new participating ice rinks. The program, which utilizes ice hockey to bring inner city children together, stresses education and character development.

“We continue to see rapid growth in our programs on a participation level from young students who want to join and from the business community who want to help,” said Snider. “We’re very excited by the response of so many individuals who like what we’re doing and want to become involved.”

The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation recently created a new partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Recreation, which increased the number of participating rinks to nine. By adding the Scanlon Recreation Center and Ice Rink in the Kensington-section of Philadelphia, the 60 neighborhood individuals in the program increased the total number of participants in the youth hockey programs to over 1,000. The newly added rinks also include the Tarken Ice Rink at Frontenac and Levick Streets; the Rizzo Ice Rink at Front Street and Washington Avenue; the Simons Ice Rink at Walnut Lane and Woolston Street and the Laura Sims Skatehouse at Cobbs Creek Parkway and Walnut Street.

“With our new partnership with the Department of Recreation, we are now able to offer participation seven days a week and further expand our educational programs into areas we couldn’t serve before,” added Snider.

“We are very excited to be partnering with the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation,” said Vic Richard, Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Recreation. “What Mr. Snider has done is extremely generous and needed to help our young children follow a positive path in life. His program is phenomenal and we’re fortunate to partner with the Foundation.”

The launch of the Foundation’s new website, esyhf.org enables children, parents, and teachers to identify additional opportunities to play hockey for free at rinks throughout the area. The new website also enables interested business leaders and individuals to help the Foundation as a donor, sponsor or volunteer.

The mission of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is to impact the lives of inner city youngsters in the Greater Philadelphia Region by developing programs that incorporate on-ice and off-ice activities, stressing citizenship, academics and life skills. The programs are provided to boys and girls who otherwise would not have opportunities to enjoy ice hockey. The Foundation provides equipment, ice time, and experienced coaching at no cost.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007