Stories

I’d like to start by saying thank you for the unbelievable support and thoughtfulness of everyone involved in this. I had originally reached out to several organizations a month ago with the intent of finding hockey gear for Michael. I never expected the unbelievable heartfelt response that would have come with that. Ryan has been absolutely amazing and made it his personal mission to do whatever he could to make it happen. Michael is a USMC Iraqi Freedom Combat Veteran who was diagnosed with PTSD in 2013. Unfortunately like many returning veterans Michael had went undiagnosed for rent years after returning from overseas. He found a love for hockey after stepping on the rink for the first time in 2021. With extreme determination he set forth to learn the game and the goalie position and used it as a form of therapy and a positive outlet to combat his mental health issues. Fast forward 4 years, we were suddenly evicted from our home in which we lived with our 7 daughters and were sent to the streets. At that point we lost everything including Michael’s gear and shortly after Michael’s mental health declined and went untreated again. 6 months ago I helped Michael admit himself to a intensive outpatient mental health program and he has just recently completed which is what made it so important to find him gear to give him that positive outlet of hockey back. We are in the process of finding a home to rebuild our family after losing everything, it has been a very difficult road but we are determined to make things right for our family. Again I would just like to thank everyone for your support and willingness to help in anyway you can. To see the tears of gratitude when I told Michael he would be playing hockey again means the world to me.. Thank you everyone and have a great day.

– Michael & Renee