In addition to funding the rink, the Blue Jackets will provide the City of Whitehall with resources to establish hockey programming in their community. These will include Try Hockey for Free clinics, hockey curriculum, staff training and equipment. The Blue Jackets also will work with the city to provide no-cost education resources that address STEM learning, academic achievement and provide a hockey-themed wellness curriculum in their schools.
"We are truly excited to partner with the City of Whitehall on this project and what it will mean to the families, particularly kids, who will have access to it," said Katie Matney, Blue Jackets Foundation Executive Director. "We've seen the impact a project like this can have through our work with Westerville Parks and Recreation on the Thomas Knox Memorial Roller Hockey Rink (a CBJ Foundation supported rink built in 2018). Bringing a similar project to the Whitehall community allows us to continue to grow the game, while promoting fitness through play to young people who might not otherwise have the opportunity."
The donation is one of many grants the Blue Jackets Foundation provides to the community to support the health and wellness of children in Central Ohio. Since it's inception in 2000, the Foundation has awarded $12 million in grants supporting the areas of pediatric cancer, reading, fitness through play and the growth and development of amateur hockey.
The City of Whitehall is an inner-ring suburb of Columbus, home to more than 20,000 residents. Since 2012, the city has added 2,300 new jobs, expanded parks and open space, oversaw the fastest increases in residential home sales in central Ohio and experienced $113 million per square mile of public-private projects in our community.
\Above image is a rendering and may differ from final concept**
