By Dominic George ’19
On Friday 2/16, members of the Bellarmine Hockey team traveled to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Together the Bells raised over $1,000 to the hospital that Stephen Caban himself went to in the midst of battling cancer.
I, myself was granted the opportunity to tour the recently opened hospital. The facility which I toured just opened last December has been fully running for close to two months. When first walking into the facility, one would not get the traditional feel of normal hospital. The hospital was designed in a way to be child-friendly and is one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the United States.
Every single floor of the hospital was designed with colorful photos of plants and animals in a way representing different ecosystems of the environment. Some of the facilities which I visited included the café where movies and other recreational activities are hosted, an outdoor park filled with life-sized animals, a meditation corner where families can pray and reflect, and a children’s library.
The most amazing part of this hospital is that it is a nonprofit organization that completely relies on donations. After giving the tour, the hockey coaches and members of the team presented the check to the hospital.
Mr. Tom Clerkin is one of the reasons why the hockey game dedicated to Stephen and the donation was a success. He did not know Stephen personally but became “involved with the event through Mike Yost. It was through Mike Yost and the entire coaching staff that made this event possible.”
Though the amount raised from this event is a substantial amount, Mr. Clerkin and other Bell students/alumni would like to continue this tradition in the near future. Mr. Clerkin believes that the team will continue this tradition in the years ahead, “I think that the Bellarmine community would like to continue this annual event in the near future, with the hockey game at SAP and the eventual donation to the hospital. Together, we bring home the idea of community and philanthropy. LPCH relies on the generous support of people like us, and I hope we can expand the support of this event in the near future.”