Allen: Duty-bound to give back

MONTREAL - If you weren't already aware of Jake Allen's reputation as an all-around good guy, last week should give you all the evidence you need.

Part of that reputation comes from his patience for and thoughtfulness in answering questions from the media, but the Habs backstop is much more than just a good person to talk to. Allen has also backed up his words with concrete action, having helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Fredericton and greater New Brunswick communities by way of his charitable foundation, Program 34.
On Thursday, Allen held the fifth edition of the Jake Allen Classic golf tournament to help support the foundation, which he launched at the start of his career with a mission to reduce and eliminate barriers in participation caused by poverty, distance, disability and culture.

For Allen, finding a way to make a positive impact back home was more than just an idea; he felt it was his duty.
"Ever since I broke into the NHL, when I was around 22, I always wanted to find a way to give back locally in Fredericton and to the province of New Brunswick. Not as many athletes come from here since we're a smaller place," shared Allen, who was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues last September. "I feel that the athletes who do, we sort of have a responsibility to find a way to contribute back in a positive manner.
"I just felt that I had a platform here within my playing days in the NHL until I retire that I could find a way to make a difference in some people's lives, and I've seen firsthand that we're making a difference in our community. That's the goal and the objective for as long as Program 34 is around."
SHOP: Jake Allen player t-shirt
Allen has made it his mission to try to help support as many different causes as possible. This year, the Classic's beneficiaries are a scholarship program to help underprivileged kids get a postsecondary education and the paediatric wing of the regional hospital, but the foundation has touched a dizzying array of causes since planning began in 2015.

"When we started Program 34, we didn't want to stick to the same charity every year; we wanted to branch out and diversify what we give back to. We've done that in various ways. We've gone from Alzheimer's to food kitchens, to youth sports, to disabled sporting programs, to diabetes, hospice... there have been a lot of different avenues we've traveled down," outlined Allen, who posted an 11-12-5 record, 2.68 goals-against average, and .907 save percentage in 29 games for Montreal this season. "I think that's been a successful way to approach it. With the limited time that I'm going to be doing this through my career, we're trying to really make the most of it and hit every avenue we can."
Although the list of beneficiaries of Program 34 is long and diverse, one commonality is that many of the initiatives Allen has chosen to support revolve around children. To that end, the goaltender incorporated a kids' Q&A session to the tournament, which returned this year, much to everyone's delight, after a hiatus due to COVID.

"We've tried to make the kids' event as fun as possible for the kids. We have a lot of giveaways: I had a lot of Canadiens game pucks for the kids, Montreal Canadiens mini sticks," described Allen, who is the proud father of two daughters along with his wife, Shannon. "It's just something to put a face to a name and be able to say hello and take a picture. We've always tried to incorporate the kids. Even though the golf tournament is more of an adult event, we feel that's very important."

The 31-year-old says the numbers are still being tallied for this year's edition, but noted that the Classic pulled in a whopping $345,000 in its first four years, a remarkable achievement which has gone a long way towards helping the people of Fredericton and New Brunswick.
Just being able to hold the event again after a year off was a boost in and of itself, of course, and Allen hopes things keep looking up from there.
"I think we all missed it last year, you could see how much fun people had this year, and especially] bringing the kids back and feeling a little bit more normal," he concluded. "Hopefully, better days are all ahead and we can really continue on with this next year and make it bigger and better."
*For more information on the Jake Allen Classic, [click here.To follow Program 34 on Twitter, click here.*