Lee raises over $100K at second annual Kancer Jam

Frisbees are flying everywhere at Anders Lee's second Kancer Jam, taking place on the practice court at Barclays Center.
Anders Lee and Fenov Pierre-Louis are in the middle of it all, tossing the yellow discs back and forth, one throwing while the other tries to deflect the frisbee towards the target. In this moment, the Islanders forward and the 16-year-old with Stage IV neuroblastoma are teamed up against Ross Johnston and 10-year-old Isles fan Ethan for a trophy. But Lee and Fenov are also teammates in a much bigger cause: raising money to fight pediatric cancer.

"That money is what's putting us closer to the future, to a future where we'll never have to use the word cancer again, where it won't exist for us," Pierre-Louis said.
Lee's Kan Jam tournament raised over $100K for pediatric cancer research, all through playing a backyard game.

"It's just a special night," Lee said. "To be able to raise this much money is pretty incredible and to do it the second year in a row, it's awesome and it's one of those things we look to grow and get better and bigger. It's going to go a long way for these kids with pediatric cancer and these families that are going through such difficult times. We'll be able to help them out a lot."
Monday marked Lee's second annual Kancer Jam. After last year's event raised over $90K for Cohen Children's Medical Center, putting on a second event was a no-brainer. The format stayed the same, with 32 teams - all made up of a player and a fan who raised money for the cause - competing in a tournament.
This year, Nick Leddy and his partner, Nick, beat John Tavares and his partner in the finals.

"It's inspiring to me to see so many people coming together for a noble cause," Pierre-Louis said. "It means so much to me as a cancer survivor myself, to see all these people coming together, raising money and not only that, but smiling and having fun at the same time."

Pierre-Louis, who gave a powerful speech to kick off the event, was Lee's inspiration to start the tournament. Lee wrote about their relationship in The Player's Tribune and the teenager continues to inspire him. Pierre-Louis has been fighting neuroblastoma for over eight years, but has his sights set on getting into an Ivy League school for biomedical engineering and was recently named to the National Honor Society. He wants to create something in the health field to help people, but a quick look around the gym shows he's already making a difference.
"Just inspiring people to know that cancer is a big deal and it's something we should actually care about and try and do something about," Pierre-Louis said. "It's not always money, but even just the efforts to help organize, or even volunteer work to organize events like this, that's what really matters."

For Lee's Islanders teammates, it's inspiring to see one of their brothers in the locker room become so passionate about a cause. Every single player took part in the tournament.
"It's nice to be part of something bigger," Scott Mayfield said. "It's important that we support events like this."
As important as the money raised, inspiring people to help join the fight is what really makes days like Monday a win for Lee and Pierre-Louis.