NHL, LaFontaine Build Children’s Hospital Playroom Around Winter Classic
Filed under: Penguins, Winter Classic
PITTSBURGH — Adding a vital community-minded touch to the 2011 NHL Winter Classic, the charitable foundation of Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine has worked with the league to build an NHL “legacy classroom” in the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
LaFontaine’s charity, Companions in Courage (CiC), raises funds and builds interactive playrooms for children in hospitals across North America. On the eve of the Winter Classic, LaFontaine, NHL chief operating officer John Collins, Children’s Hospital president Christopher Gessner and Penguins Foundation president Dave Soltesz will unveil details for CiC’s latest space. The “legacy classroom” is designed to utilize innovative communications tools that allow children to connect with their schools, families and friends during a hospital stay.
“The room will have all of the fun aspects the children love,” LaFontaine, a former all-star center with the Islanders, Sabres and Rangers, told FanHouse. “But it will also have a Smart Board and lots of tools that will make the children feel closer to home and closer to their schools.”
For the Pittsburgh project, Companions in Courage partnered with the NHL Foundation. LaFontaine also has plans for interactive playrooms in North Carolina around the 2011 NHL All-Star Game and in Calgary around the NHL Heritage Classic played between the Flames and Montreal Canadiens.
“I’m really grateful to the NHL for its generosity and consideration of the children in Pittsburgh,” said LaFontaine. “I can think of no better way to commemorate the Winter Classic than with this long-lasting gift to the host community.”
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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/31/nhl-lafontaine-build-childrens-hospital-playroom-around-winter/