Maybe I'm just a little immature, hanging-on to my youth with this hockey gig, but their are moments when I can justify my participation in more substantial ways than a healthy, recreational workout. A large part of the life affirming feeling that I get is from the charitable associations that present themselves in such a close community as ours. Another one of those opportunities has come to my attention just this week.
Tim Zemens has been giving back to the greatest sport on ice for quite awhile, in the thankless pursuit of ref-ing. But a deeper calling came to him about seven years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer. Specialized treatments were necessary, and available in only two spots in the country at the time. He chose his home town of Detroit. The ensuing family reunion was bittersweet with the reminders of his family's losses to cancer. But Tim fought hard and was blessed with a full recovery. He re-directed his life toward awareness and caregiving to those in similar situations, and received an even more harrowing lesson when he sat helpless watching his son undergo brain surgery after a traumatic car wreck. The outpouring of humanity from family and friends in both of these calamities focused his own feelings of compassion into the forming of the Hoffen Foundation, a multi-faceted charity aiming at the assistance of children in need, you can read more about it at http://www.hoffenfoundation.org/aboutus.html.
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