Cool As Ice

By Emily Shuttleworth

Who would ever guess, amid the swaying palms and Tinsel Town, the heart of Los Angeles is made of ice? Well, an ice rink to be exact.

In a sports culture that has long centered on endless summer outdoor activities, the Los Angeles Kings are in the midst of their 44TH season in sunny Southern California. As everyone knows from storybooks, it's a King's job to take care of the people. It's no different for L.A.'s own royals. Proud to be an integral part of the Los Angeles community both on and off the ice, the Kings have a special affinity for the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen's Fund.

"I am always so impressed by the dedication the Kings have to our firefighters and the community as a whole," says Marlene Casillas, Development & Marketing Director for Widows & Orphans.

"The L.A. Kings not only support our non-profit with donations and fundraising opportunities, they also make sure the top current and past players as well as front office leaders are at the events and participating in our fundraising and awareness efforts.  We've all had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Luc Robitaille, Jim Fox, Ian Turnbull and more.  They are the only professional sports team to step up in this manner and take care of the people right here in their own backyard. It's incredible."

Providing invaluable support for years, the L.A. Kings consistently sponsor the LAFD Invitational golf tournament as well as Hope for Firefighters, two of the charity's biggest fundraisers each year.

If this wasn't enough, once the Kings noticed the immense popularity of the food booths run by local fire stations at the Hope for Firefighters event, the team invited the firefighters to run food booths at its popular, L.A. Kings Hockey Fest.  All proceeds from the booths went to the Widows & Orphans.

"We feel proud and fortunate to have local firefighters participating and raising money and awareness for such an important cause," says Kings President of Business, Operations Luc Robitaille on the official L.A. Kings website.

Hockey Fest sold out to 3,000 fans offering them opportunities to interact with the Kings players and staff in a series of press conference style sessions. For fans with families, there was an ice rink set up for kids of all ages to skate around with the Kings' lion mascot, Bailey. With this huge audience in attendance, the L.A. Kings also hosted a special hockey match featuring members from the Los Angeles Fire Department and held a charity auction of LAFD jerseys with all the proceeds going directly to the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen's Fund.

To learn more about the L.A. Kings, please visit the official website at kings.nhl.com.