Courtesy of Fredonia Blue Devils Online Roster.
AVRIL KING
Social Media Manager, Assistant Sports Editor
Luke Rivera, a junior at Fredonia, did not set out to be nominated for the 2018 Hockey Humanitarian Award when he first proposed his community service idea to Head Hockey Coach Jeff Meredith. That is simply where he ended up.
After two years of organizing the annual Stroke Awareness game, he has been recognized for his hard work and willingness to serve a broader community.
Originally from Pacific Palisades, California, Rivera got his first glimpse of how devastating a stroke can be just eight years ago when his mother suffered from one. She was able to recover, but the incident left Rivera wanting to do more to spread awareness of strokes and help those that have suffered.
Rivera came to Meredith during his freshman year with the idea of the Stroke Awareness game. After sharing his ideas, plans were put in place to make the game a reality.
“He realized I was set on doing this and I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” said Rivera.
He chose to give the money raised from the event to Kaleida Health Foundation in Buffalo. Today, around $20,000 have been donated to the charity from the game.
“Raising the money is just a bonus,” said Rivera. “The real goal is to spread awareness for people to see how important it is to be aware of this horrible thing that happens to people more often than you can imagine.”
Rivera was nominated by Coach Meredith for the 2018 Hockey Humanitarian Award and is one of 11 college hockey players nationwide that has been selected.
The award was established in 1996 by John Greenhalgh and Jeff Millman. It seeks to recognize players who serve as role models both on and off the ice.
According to the two founding directors of the award on their official website, “The Humanitarian Award is meant to be seen as a true measure of a person’s worth, not just as an athlete, but as someone who embodies those values that merit our recognition.”
Rivera is the second Fredonian to be nominated for the award. The first was Don Jaeger, who was nominated in 2006, but was not selected to receive it.
In accordance with the virtues that the award was built upon, as head coach, Meredith stresses the importance of community to each of his players.
“It’s not enough to come to school here for four years, get an education and play hockey. That’s not enough,” he said. “You have to be a part of this whole community: the campus and the community outside the campus. You have to be so attached to that community that you always want to come back when you leave us.”
This willingness and desire to serve was part of what inspired Rivera to start the project in the first place.
“My older brother, Jake, played at SUNY Potsdam,” he said. “When he graduated, he had some advice to me and some regrets. His regret was he wished he had given back to the community more and done more for Potsdam than just play hockey and his advice was pretty much the same. He said to make the most of my four years; we’ve been given an opportunity to do more than just play hockey, so take advantage of it.”
He even wanted to involve his hockey family in the game this past year.
“My father suffered a minor stroke last year around this time. Luke, being such a good kid, came to me early in the fall semester and said, ‘Does your dad want to be a part of the night and drop the opening puck?’” said Michael Lysyj, the assistant coach of the hockey team. “That was a nice touch for me personally. He thought of me and my family in this whole thing and not just of the way he started with him and his mother.”
Yet, despite the fundraiser’s incredible success and the recognition he has gained from it, Rivera has still managed to be modest and grateful for the opportunity to serve.
“I didn’t do it to be recognized by any means, honestly,” he said. “I saw how great of a job Coach Meredith does with ‘Pink the Rink’ and I’m sure I can speak for him as well when I say that when someone comes up to you telling you ‘thank you’ for doing what you’re doing because they can relate, then that right there is the best and most rewarding thing.”
Looking to the future of the event, Rivera and the team as a whole would like to keep the program going. Next year, Rivera hopes to choose and train a younger player to take it over.
Although it will be his senior year next year, the impact this project has made on the community at large will surely be remembered even after Rivera has graduated.