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Who won the game hardly mattered.
The thrill of dropping the ceremonial first puck at a recent New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers game was simply enough for a group of Sylvan Avenue Elementary School students and their teachers.
The Bayport school was honored at the game for its efforts in raising $30,000 for Smile Train, a nonprofit organization providing treatment to children with cleft lips and palates.
Just before the game at NYCB Live’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Smile Train CEO Susannah Schaefer, along with the group of “Smile Train student ambassadors” from Sylvan Avenue Elementary and their teachers, Laurie James-Katz and Christine Monahan, dropped the ceremonial first puck. The school has been fundraising for Smile Train since 2008.
At the Jan. 16 game, fans were greeted by Smile Train staff and volunteers selling raffle tickets and commemorative rally towels as they entered the arena.
Each Islanders home game at the Coliseum this season features a 50/50 raffle hosted by the Islanders Children’s Foundation, with the proceeds split evenly between the night’s host charity and one lucky winner, according to Smile Train. The late Charles B. Wang, a former Islanders’ owner, is Smile Train’s founder.
“I’m so happy I got to help another kid,” said T.J., a Sylvan Avenue student, one of the Smile Train ambassadors at the Jan. 16 game. “I also can’t believe I got to meet my favorite player, Mathew Barzal.”
P.S. The visiting New York Rangers beat their rival, 3-2.
