John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs have donated an undisclosed amount of money to help support workers at two Toronto-area hospitals in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Canadian Press reported Friday.
The funds, supplied by the players, will support staff at Trillium Health Partners and Mount Sinai Hospital and will be used as each hospital's respective foundations sees fit. Tavares' wife, Aryne, worked as a physiotherapist for Trillium before the couple's first child was born in September.
"Everything they're sacrificing and the risks that they're taking … it's very moving and it's very heroic," Tavares told Canadian Press. "At times it's hard to find the words.
"It's a real challenge but they're doing everything they can to help everyone they can [to] fight this virus and get things back to normal."
The NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
Trillium Health Partners plans to use the funds for a free post-shift meal for each of its 10,000 front-line employees at its three campuses in Mississauga, Ontario. Mount Sinai Hospital, in downtown Toronto, will utilize the donation on an emergency room training simulation.
Toronto captain John Tavares, group of Maple Leafs teammates make donation to ‘heroic’ health-care workers amid pandemichttps://t.co/IrC09fyNYn
