Chad Ruhwedel, Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin, and Bryan Rust participated in the Burgh Proud Thanksgiving Meal Distribution event at PNC Park on the North Shore. Meanwhile, across the city in Homestead, Ryan Poehling, Marcus Pettersson, and Jeff Petry teamed up to serve warm meals at the Rainbow Kitchen.
"We're very fortunate for the Penguins to have a number of resources and utilize the power of hockey to do things like we're doing today in the community," said Amanda Susko, Senior Director of Foundation Proframs and Strategic Planning at the Penguins Foundation.
For the Burgh Proud Thanksgiving Meal Distribution event, the Penguins joined the Steelers and the Pirates to collaborate with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide a full Thanksgiving meal for 300 families. The players loaded up cars with food - including turkeys, dry food boxes and baked goods - while the teams also provided some swag.
"It's really nice," Rust said. "I think for us, it's a fun time to give back to the community and connect with people. Obviously, it's a special time of year for everyone, but to be able to give people some Thanksgiving dinners and kind of put a smile on their faces - it's fun."
There was certainly no shortage of fun being had by the Penguins players, especially in Ruhwedel's case. Chad hopped in one of the police motorcycle sidecars, and shortly after, Iceburgh did the same. "It was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing," Ruhwedel said. "I've never been in a sidecar before, it's something I feel like you see in cartoons. So, it was pretty cool to have the guy take me for a little spin in it."
Over in Homestead, Poehling, Pettersson and Petry donned aprons and gloves to provide comfort food to families and residents that are serviced by Rainbow Kitchen, with everything from turkey and mashed potatoes to dessert.
"To know as a team and an organization we can help contribute, it's not even about hockey right now," Pettersson said. "Just to get out and serve people some food that might not get hot food on Thanksgiving, I just think it's a lot of fun."
The main goal of the events was to hand out food to the families who really needed it this Thanksgiving. But it was also a chance for fans to meet some players up close and talk with them.
"You can tell a lot of the people that come up are definitely sports fans," Brian Dumoulin said. "That's kind of the first and foremost thing here in Pittsburgh. Whether it's the Pirates, the Steelers, or the Penguins, you know they're a fan of the team no matter what. So, it's been great to interact with them, and they're definitely thankful for the turkeys also."
This is the fourth year the Penguins teamed up with the Rainbow Kitchen to provide hot meals. They weren't able to participate in recent years due to COVID, but "this year, thankfully, COVID restrictions allowed us to have the current players here," Susko said.
Last season during the pandemic, the Penguins connected with the Steelers and Pirates to figure out what they could do to give back. The Penguins had local alumni come to PNC Park to load the cars. But this is the first year the Penguins brought players to the Thanksgiving distribution event.
"It's been cool just to be able to give out food and help people celebrate with their family and friends for Thanksgiving," Guentzel said. "So, whenever you can give back for a special holiday, it's pretty special."
