On Saturday, New York Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and Sparky visited five children battling cancer. It hammered home the power an organization can have on their fan base, helping families escape the reality of their situation.
On Saturday, New York Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and Sparky visited five children battling cancer. It hammered home the power an organization can have on their fan base, helping families escape the reality of their situation.
Saturday was an emotional day in New York Islanders country, but not because of their 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.
Throughout the day, Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky visited Islanders fans battling cancer, spending time with these children and their families.
All these visits were a surprise for the young fans, and just the conversations with Ledecky, along with Sparky, allowed the brave kids a moment to escape the reality of their situations.
It's not just the power of sports.
It's not just the power of the relationship between the New York Islanders and their fan base.
But it's the power of an owner who goes above and beyond, something that may go unnoticed by the masses but not by these kids and their families.
Surprising Alessia
The Hockey News had the privilege of chatting with Stefanie Serie, the mother of 12-year-old Alessia, who started her fight against Leukemia a few weeks ago.
Due to chemotherapy, Alessia had lost the ability to walk and was stationed in the living room on a hospital bed.
Their home was filled with tremendous love as family and friends stood by her bedside.
Their home was also full of shock when Islanders' co-owner Jon Ledecky walked through their front doors.
"To have the owner here, we were blown away," Stefanie said. "I mean, when I was texting with Ann (Marie Rina, Community Relations Senior Director), and she said, 'Oh, one of the owners (is coming).' My husband just said there's no way he's coming. I'm like, I don't know. She said one of the owners, and he said, 'He's not going to come here.' And then he came."
After saying hello to Alessia and her tremendous support system, Ledecky gifted her a custom Islanders sweater and placed an Islanders hat on her head.
Alessia's emotions stayed hidden when Ledecky walked in. But when that hat landed on her head, you witnessed the magic.
It meant more than words could ever show.
It was quick. It was small. But it was a smile.
"She hasn't smiled a lot recently. I feel like the chemo has sucked her soul out of her," Stefanie said. "That was everything to her.
"The only thing she wanted to do (while in the hospital) was watch the Islanders."
The powerful bond between a fan and her team. The powerful bond between Alessia and the New York Islanders. The importance of an owner who keeps that connection flourishing as best as he can.
From the start of Ledecky's tenure on the island, he's gone out of his way to ensure fans have the best time cheering on the Islanders.
He's embraced the fan base, and the fan base has embraced him.
"He's so personable. He's so kind and genuine. You don't expect that because a lot of owners sometimes are jerks. But he's unbelievable," Stefanie said.
While it was a short stay, every minute was critical in allowing Alessia and her family -- for an instance -- to focus on something else besides her diagnosis.
"I have a hospital bed in my living room. You can't forget it," Stefanie said. "But we're riding the wave right now. We're high on a wave in Hawaii and riding it because tomorrow I could be drowning. So we're just riding it."
Interview with Islanders Co-Owner Jon Ledecky
After visiting and surprising five children on Saturday, The Hockey News caught up with co-owner Jon Ledecky for an exclusive interview.
Since arriving on Long Island, Ledecky has made a tremendous effort to invest emotionally in the community. He credited the organization for the foundation they set.
"We looked at the Islanders as a community trust. Scott (Malkin) and I first talked about the role and power of sports organizations in the community. And neither one of us was going to run for public office," Ledecky told THN.
"So what we could do for public service, the next best thing would be to own a sports team because, in a sports team, you get all this attention on whatever the cause or meaning of what you're doing is because you represent the fabric of the community,"
Ledecky continued: "So having the opportunity to own this great franchise with an unbelievable history of community activism and community organization through the Islanders Children's Foundation, it's so incredibly meaningful, and we spent today, as you know, with children from around the region, all of whom are fighting the great fight [...] and that's part of the mission of the Islanders Children Foundation.
Yes, making the days of these young kids is important for Ledecky, but he shared that the players are heavily involved, which makes it even more special.
"It's what's important to our players," Ledecky said. "Anders Lee has this charity for cancer kids, and talking to the families and talking to the kids, what it meant to them to have Anders involved in their lives and Anders representing the team in their lives is second to none.
When Ledecky sees the impact these visits have, the smiles of the children when they see Sparky skip into their situation, it just hits home the importance of what the Islanders do in their community:
-"Just watching that connectivity, the connective tissue of the organization to the community and what the symbols of the team mean, right? Whether it's a great captain Anders Lee, or Sparky, or having a co-owner come and visit them -- probably the least important to the kids is the owner being there -- but to the families themselves, knowing that we care enough to spend all day Saturday getting them ready to go to the game and having them, for the children who are able to health-wise come, to host them and to see the joy on their face and to see the joy in the family's faces as we surprise and delight them with gifts and tickets to the playoff games and visit to the owner suite. It makes it all worthwhile."
That connective tissue starts with the players, a group that has gone to battle with one another for not just 82-plus games this season but a group that has more or less been battling together since before Ledecky's arrival.
"The Islanders are a family. So the team that knows each other so well, their family. Their families are together. They've struggled through some health issues, the players and their families," Ledecky said. "And so there's this meaningful connection to the Islanders, the Islanders family, and the greater New York metropolitan area community, and it all comes together.
"Because we have such a great standing in the community, we're able to get the word out about what's going on in these people's lives, and you never know. The articles are great. It's not about the Islanders, it's about the families, but you never know when you're going to save another child's life because of all these different situations and illnesses and cancer, getting the communication that children can have these things may lead families to have a greater check in with their pediatricians. And if we can save children's lives by having a day like today, all the better."
The powerful bond between a fan and a team. The powerful bond between an Islanders fan and the New York Islanders. The importance of an owner who keeps that connection flourishing as best as he can.