North Charleston, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays fought through over two feet of snow while Johnstown, PA to extend a helping hand to the Johnstown Chiefs and seven-year-old Brent Swaltek by donating 275 boxes of band-aids to Brent’s Band-Aids.
Stingrays players Matt Scherer, Spencer Carbery, Nate Kiser and Head Coach Cail MacLean presented the donation to Brent and his family Saturday morning during the Stingrays’ morning skate as they prepared to battle the Chiefs that night.
Back on December 18, 2009, the Chiefs hosted a benefit to collect band-aids for Brent, who was diagnosed with leukemia over the summer. During his treatment at the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, Brent discovered that the hospital does not buy cartoon-themed band-aids because of the cost. Since then, he began collecting boxes of cartoon band-aids and donating them to the hospital to help cheer up and encourage its patients. With the Stingrays’ help, Brent has donated nearly 1,000 boxes of band-aids to the hospital.
“When others outside of the Johnstown community offered to donate towards Brent’s cause, the Chiefs were open to the idea and more than amazed. The Stingrays’ Booster Club member Terri Mills contacted us that they had begun collecting and we were thrilled to be able to present Brent with more band-aids,” said director of communication and customer relations Ray Schmitt.
“The Johnstown Chiefs would like to thank everyone from the South Carolina Stingrays’ Booster Club, staff, players and fans for their generous donation of 275 boxes of band-aids to be donated to Brent’s Band-Aids,” the Chiefs team release stated.
“With these band-aids, we are not only helping Brent, but we are helping hundreds of patients at Children’s hospital in Pittsburgh. We’re extremely proud of our fans and their donation efforts, but it’s especially heartwarming that Brent’s story touched people in the hockey community nearly 700 miles away. Hopefully the donations will keep rolling in this season and beyond,” added Schmitt.
The Stingrays complete their seven-game road trip Wednesday, February 10 against the Charlotte Checkers at 7:05 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena. Listen to all the play-by-play action LIVE on www.stingrayshockey.com! The Stingrays return to North Charleston Coliseum Friday, February 12 at 7:05 p.m. against the Florida Everblades for $2 Beer Night and Haiti Relief Night with the American Red Cross. Ticket packages and individual tickets are on sale now! For all the latest Stingrays news, visit www.stingrayshockey.com.
