New Jersey Devils To Host Pediatric Cancer Benefit
Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
The New Jersey Devils will host a benefit night as part of their regular season game against the Ottawa Senators on February 16th. The team will be hosting “Love Your Melon” Night to provide proceeds to Love Your Melon, an apparel brand which is dedicated to raising awareness of pediatric cancer.
The Devils will provide fans purchasing tickets to the game against the Senators with a beanie type hat and a $10 food voucher. The goal of the Love Your Melon brand is to give a similar beanie type hat to every child with cancer. The company also works with other pediatric cancer non-profits on cross-promotional efforts to raise awareness of pediatric cancer.
In fact, the Love Your Melon brand donates 50% of the net proceeds of all of their products to organizations who are focused on the area of pediatric cancer. The benefit held by the Devils hockey team will certainly help them and their non-profit partner organizations to expand their donor base to new demographics as well as to raise funds for this crucially important cause.
The National Cancer Institute reported that in 2016 they expected over 10,000 new cases of pediatric cancer in the U.S. from children in ages ranging from their birth to fourteen years old. The unfortunate reality is that although the fatality rate from pediatric cancer has declined by 70% over the past forty years, an estimated 1,250 children tragically died from cancer in 2016.
The most common forms of pediatric cancer are: acute lymphocytic leukemia, neuroblastoma, and tumors impacting the central nervous system. The types of treatment for these cases are different in children than the types of treatment options utilized with adults.
The New Jersey Devils have traditionally supported the fight against childhood cancer throughout the course of their presence in the Garden State. The players have, for several years, visited children suffering or in recovery from a variety of pediatric cancers in specialty hospitals across New Jersey.
This event is not the first of this season for the team with regard to pediatric cancer as they held events in October including the Hockey Fights Cancer event. The team announced at that event that they had signed a nine year boy with cancer to a one day contract which served as a fundraising opportunity to help the child raise money for an expensive surgical procedure.
The effects of pediatric cancer can be felt by the patient later in life if they survive the treatments, where they have a greater prevalence of the onset of other diseases and heath ailments. The effects of pediatric cancer also impact the entire family unit and those close to the patient.
The New Jersey Devils are committed to helping those impacted by pediatric cancer and to making our communities stronger. Please support this event and this worthy cause, for more information please visit the Devils website or www.nhl.com to learn how you can support the non-profit partners involved in this cause, and other causes that face our communities.
