Honoring Heroes and a Commitment to Community
The Lightning Community Hero program celebrates grassroots heroes whose noble efforts make a positive impact in our community. Since the launch of the Community Hero program in 2011, it has been our honor to tell the stories of each awardee’s rich history of volunteerism and good works via an in-game video that illustrates how the Hero is using his or her life to help others less fortunate, followed by the Foundation presenting the Hero with a $50,000 grant designated to the charities of their choice. The goal of the Community Hero program is not only to tell the stories of these incredible individuals, but also inspire our fans and those in attendance at our games to get involved and give back to the community.
The Community Hero program has become a beloved part of our game presentation and philanthropic programming, and is a celebration of the diversity of all that is good and great about Tampa Bay. Through thirteen seasons of the program, we have celebrated 590 Heroes and distributed $31.87M in 1160 donations to 762 unique non-profits throughout the Tampa Bay area.