The Philadelphia Flyers Charities hosted their annual Flyers Charities Carnival this Sunday. This event has been a staple of the Flyers community for over 46 years. This is also the largest grossing charity event amongst all sports for a single-day charity event. Blair Listino, the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer for Comcast Spectacor, spoke about the importance of the event. “You either want to come for the carnival event, whether riding the rides or playing the games.
Flyers Charities is making a huge difference in the local community
The other aspect that’s once in a lifetime is that you get to meet the players.” This is something a lot of fans take advantage of. The Flyers have a “Sign & Snap” where they can meet their favorite player, get the player to sign items, and take a picture with the player. You can also play games with them too. This year, a popular game was ping pong. Listino continues, “This is an event where all of our staff volunteers at the event. The players are here, the coaches. This is the most highly attended event from our employees today.”
Listino explains that Flyers Charities posted the players’ schedules online this year. That way, “super fans” would be able to plan out their day accordingly if they wanted the chance to meet their favorite player.
Listino spoke about how the Flyers’ families are involved: “We are bringing back this year ‘Building Hope For Kids’ teaming up with Michael’s Way and St. Christopher’s Hospital. We select a family (local) that’s been impacted by cancer, and we renovate their house. We are revealing the house on March 5th. The wives call the family and ask them what will make them happy (what they would want in the house.) Travis Sanheim‘s Wife, Alex Sanheim, is very involved with charity work.”
Listino said on March 5th, there will be a block party for the family once the house is renovated! She explained that the Wife has been working on the house since the beginning of January, so it’s a quick turnaround.
Another big project the Flyers began working on is called ‘Rink Revive.’ Listino continues, “People send in the rinks they play at that need some help. Whether it’s boards or equipment, we ask people to tell us what their specific rink needs, and we’re in the process of going through all the applications and selecting what rinks we will help with.
It will really help grow the game of hockey in our community because we know it can be expensive. We want to make sure it’s played. Youth sports are a passion of mine and that of many of the people who work here.” Listino said the cost of the rinks varies. The New Hanover (outdoor rink) (just fixing the surface and equipment) cost $300,000. The indoor ice rinks are in the millions. The Flyers Charities continues to help the community in many aspects.
Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
