The Blue Jackets are good with a hockey stick in their hands, but what about a paintbrush, drill or hammer?
The team got a chance to find out Monday during its Player Day of Service, splitting up to help two Central Ohio organizations that make a big impact in the community. Half of the team headed to the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio to help build dressers, while the rest of the squad went to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to sort food.
At the former location, captain Boone Jenner found that some teammates know their way around the tools of a different trade, while others, not so much.
“It definitely is a good team-building exercise,” the CBJ forward said. “You can see who can find their way around a workshop – a wood shop, in particular – and who can’t, so we’re having fun with it. It’s always a good time to come out, and we enjoy doing this.”
At the end of the day, the most important thing is that the Blue Jackets gave back as a team. The annual Player Day of Service is always a chance to contribute to the community and make a direct impact with organizations that do so much for Central Ohio, and this year was no different.
“What’s so important is we are in position to be there for people when they need us,” said Mike Hochron, senior vice president of communications and public affairs for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “The work of the Blue Jackets and volunteers like them every day to have the right food in the right place at the right time is essential. Our whole community is counting on us.”
On Monday, Blue Jackets players at the Mid-Ohio Food Collective helped package and store blocks of cheese that will be distributed through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a federal initiative that delivers about 5,000 boxes of food each month to seniors in the community.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective helped feed more than a half a million people last year over its 20-county service area, and the backbone of those efforts is a volunteer network that exceeds more than 1,000 people per week. To have the Blue Jackets join those ranks meant a lot to the volunteers on hand.
“It’s not every day we have a professional sports team and some of the best hockey players in the land come out to be part of that work, so we’re always really excited when the Blue Jackets come down,” Hochron said. “To have so many of the players we recognize and see on the ice and in the highlight reels come and be a part of our work is really a highlight for us.”
Meanwhile, at the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, players got to show off their handyman skills – or lack thereof – as they painted and assembled dressers that will soon be in homes across the area of individuals and families moving from difficult situations. The organization not only accepts donations of used furniture, it builds and distributes its own, helping fill thousands of living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms each year.
“It’s a great partnership (with the Blue Jackets),” said Phil Washburn, president and CEO of the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio. “It means a lot to us. We do this day in and day out, and to be able to have an organization like the Blue Jackets and players come out and join us, having that support is just so encouraging to me and my team to know that the community is behind us and they have our back.”
In the Central Ohio community, everyone is in this together, whether they’re scoring goals on the ice or helping those in need off of it.
“The support we receive is second to none,” said CBJ defenseman Damon Severson, who attended the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “The least we can do is get out here and show our face in the community and support it any way we can because we receive that support like no other."