SSE Holiday Assist 2025: A month of giving across the Bay Area

Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE) wrapped up an impactful December through Holiday Assist, the organization’s community initiative focused on supporting Bay Area families during the holiday season. In partnership with Family Giving Tree, this year’s activation spanned three major touchpoints, uniting fans, players, and volunteers in a collective effort to bring joy to local youth.

Powered by a $30,000 Sharks Foundation Community Assist Grant and the generosity of our community, the program supported nearly 1,500 children across the Bay Area, ensuring they received gifts and a holiday experience during a season that can be challenging.

“Holiday Assist meets families where they are, at a time of year that can feel especially heavy,” said Kevin Brown, Executive Director of the Sharks Foundation and Head of Community Impact for Sharks Sports & Entertainment. “It reflects the collective impact of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, from the Sharks and Barracuda to Sharks Ice, SAP Center, and Tech CU Arena, all coming together alongside our fans and partners to create experiences that feel personal, affirming, and rooted in community.”

INVOLVING OUR FANS AND PARTNERS

Holiday Assist began with a region-wide show of generosity as SSE launched a hybrid toy collection effort.

Across Sharks Ice facilities in San Jose, Oakland, and Fremont, bins were out for fans and skaters to donate toys, books, and essentials like bedding and toothbrushes to the drive. Fans attending the November 28 Sharks vs. Canucks game could contribute through a pre-game collection drive.

The giving extended beyond physical spaces through wishdrive.org/sharks, where supporters contributed 156 items virtually valued at more than $5,000. In total, 446 toys were provided to help stock Family Giving Tree with gifts for children. Community Relations Manager, Stephanie Dubin-Combo, said, “This collection drive was an effort that spanned across all of Sharks Sports & Entertainment and all of Sharks territory. We had gifts donated at all three of our ice facilities, SAP Center and online. The gift wrapping event had representation from the Sharks, Barracuda, SAP Center, and the Sharks Foundation showing the true impact we can make when joining together as we were able to collect an additional 446 gifts, bringing the grand total of 1,446 gifts and children impacted through Family Giving Tree’s Holiday Wish Drive.”

BEHIND THE SCENES: WRAPPING MORE THAN 1,000 GIFTS

An energetic volunteer crew at the Family Giving Tree hub in Sunnyvale came together for an afternoon of wrapping and camaraderie, made up of Team Teal staff, Sharks Foundation supporters, S.J. Sharkie, Frenzy, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky, and more.

Led by opening remarks from Family Giving Tree Chief Executive Officer Jill Mitsch and Sharks President Jonathan Becher, the event featured a $30,000 grant check presentation that funded the purchase of 1,000 gifts, many of which were wrapped at the event.

Players from across the Sharks and Barracuda organizations joined the effort, including Timothy Liljegren, John Klingberg, Jeff Skinner, Cam Lund, Kasper Halttunen, Mattias Havelid, Filip Bystedt, and Quentin Musty, all of whom spent the afternoon wrapping gifts. Sharkie and Frenzy brought a fun energy to the group, as volunteers worked together to ensure every present was wrapped with care.

THE FINAL MOMENT: PUTTING A SMILE ON CHILDREN’S FACES

SSE’s 2025 Holiday Assist program concluded with a heartwarming celebration at the Alma Community Center in San Jose where more than 120 children and their caregivers arrived with an invitation to pick up their holiday gift.

Sharks players Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Reaves, Ty Dellandrea, Vincent Desharnais and Dmitry Orlov, and S.J. Sharkie greeted families and handed out presents one by one so each child had a personal interaction with a professional hockey player. District 7 Council Member Bien Doan also joined for the evening, spreading joy to those at the event. The Sharks Foundation also surprised youth with a free skate pass to Sharks Ice San Jose, and a special-edition Sharks Foundation beanie to keep them warm this winter.

Throughout the evening, families enjoyed pizza and desserts while kids opened their gifts, posed for photos with S.J. Sharkie, and shared moments of joy with the players. When asked about giving back to his community this holiday season, Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais said, “Not everyone is as fortunate, a lot of people have their struggles, I think that we have a pretty big platform that we can use to help people out. I think that the holidays are the best time of the year to give back...this year the message on our team is to give back as much as we can, so it’s really cool to see five guys here trying to bring smiles and joy during the holidays.”

The final activation brought the full Holiday Assist campaign to life, ensuring the generosity of our collective community reached the children and families the program was designed to support.