Hockey Company Donates $20K to Harlem Kids: 'They Can Compete Like any Other'

HARLEM, NY — When 12-year-old Dylan Gallagher started collecting his teammates' used hockey equipment to donate, he was just trying to do a good deed for his bar mitzvah. He didn't think his small deed would inspire one of the largest hockey equipment companies in Canada to donate $20,000 of brand-new sticks, skates and helmets to a Harlem nonprofit.

Sporting goods giant CCM teamed up with Gallagher to donate the brand new gear to Ice Hockey in Harlem — a nonprofit which provides free hockey instruction and educational advancement to children from underprivileged households — Wednesday night at Central Park's Lasker Rink. Also in attendance was former New York Rangers star Ron Dugay, who helped hand out the equipment and bring a smile to the young hockey players' faces.

"I'm shocked because CCM is the biggest company in the world for hockey," Gallagher said Wednesday night. "For them to be here today is just amazing."

Gallagher — who's family lives on the Upper West Side — said he learned about Ice Hockey in Harlem by watching a documentary about young hockey players doing good deeds. Gallagher told Patch that after watching the documentary and seeing the smiles on kids' faces he wanted to volunteer with the organization.

CCM learned about Gallagher's equipment drive about a month ago and decided to make the donation to Ice Harlem in Hockey in order to encourage more people to do good deeds. This month the company launched a social media campaign, CCM Assists, to encourage young hockey players to do good deeds in their communities.

"We thought it was such a wonderful example of a young hockey player paying it forward to help other hockey players," CCM Representative Sandra Carreon-John told Patch. "So we thought 'let's do this' and maybe it will inspire others just as we were inspired by Dylan."

Ice Hockey in Harlem was created in 1987 to provide an opportunity for kids who otherwise would not be able to play hockey due to the cost of equipment and renting ice time, the organization's executive director John Sanful told Patch. This year the organization includes 245 children who get to play hockey in Lasker Rink every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Sanful said. In addition to hockey training the nonprofit also helps expand the children's economic opportunities through after-school programs.

Sanful told Patch that CCM's donation will help the nonprofit establish a strong foundation for the future of the organization.

"We talk so much about opportunities with our kids — who are predominately kids of color from Harlem —who growing up really can't afford any of this equipment," Sanful told Patch. "For them to be able to access something like this really shows that they're included in the game, that they can play, they can compete just like any other kid and wear the same equipment as any other kid."

Dylan's parents, Jodi and Rich Gallagher, said they were "super proud" of their son, who will learn that small deeds can do a lot of good.

"He's Just a 12-year-old boy who loves hockey," Rich Gallagher said. "He just wants to see these kids learn to play and enjoy the game the way he does."

Photos by Patch