Charitable Donations: Amadeus Steen Foundation

It's been a few weeks since I wrote the last Charitable Donations article, and I had been meaning to publish this one earlier. When it comes to faces of franchises, no one embodied the spirit of the Winnipeg Jets more than Thomas Steen. Thomas Steen played 950 NHL games with the Winnipeg franchise, and was a fan favourite every time he stepped on the ice. However, the Steens were affected by a tragedy within their family, and from that loss came the Amadeus Steen Foundation. Today, Hockey Blog In Canada is honoured to present this amazing foundation to you, as well as having the chance to speak about a man who I've admired for a long time.

Mission Statement: Directly from the Amadeus Steen Foundation website, "The Amadeus Steen Foundation exists to enhance the lives of the community’s children and youth through non-clinical initiatives that seek to restore hope.

"The Foundation strives to raise awareness around lesser known issues, make change through simple solutions with a big impact, and forge emotional connections with both children and their loved ones."

How Did The Amadeus Steen Foundation Start?: I hate talking about tragedies, but this story starts off that way. 18 years ago, young Amadeus Steen, the fourth child for Thomas and Mona Steen, had been diagnosed with a virus on his heart at the age of two months. Doctors worked tirelessly to help little Amadeus overcome the virus. However, the virus would eventually cause Amadeus' pulse to elevate greater than 200 beats-per-minute. Doctors tried to bring his heart-rate down, but were unsuccessful. Amadeus Steen passed away before he celebrated his first birthday.

In 2007, Thomas Steen and his son, Toronto Maple Leafs' forward Alex Steen, decided to team up and start the Amadeus Steen Foundation in honour of Amadeus. Along with Thomas and Alex, Mona and Alex's wife, Sofie, have been instrumental in getting the foundation off the ground. The Amadeus Steen Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to enhance the lives of children who need a helping hand in whatever battle they may be facing. Rather than using the funds raised by the Amadeus Steen Foundation to fund research initiatives, the foundation works to bring hope and happiness to children who need it most.

The Amadeus Steen Foundation works out of both Toronto, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2007, the Amadeus Steen Foundation raised funds in the Greater Toronto Area for the Lakeshore Area Multi-service Project (LAMP), an Etobicoke centre for at-risk youth. LAMP needed funds to build a new facility, and the Amadeus Steen Foundation lent a hand. LAMP's current facility is the former Mimico City Hall, part of which is an old jail which is in very bad shape. Thanks to Alex and Thomas Steen, LAMP can focus on providing quality programming in a new facility. You can read more about Alex's visit to LAMP here.

This year, the Amadeus Steen Foundation is raising funds for the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg. The two major fundraising events are the Benefit Reception, taking place on August 27, and the CanWest Steen Classic golf tournament, taking place on August 28. Both of these events will help raise funds for improvements at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital. The Amadeus Steen Foundation is also holding a golf event in the GTA region as well. The CanWest Steen Classic in Ontario will go towards helping LAMP once again.

Clearly, the Steen family and the Amadeus Steen Foundation are doing a fabulous job in raising funds for children who can most certainly use the help.

How Can I Help?: Of course, there is always the option of making a donation. If you'd prefer to avoid the online donation in favour of the mail-in donation, you can do that as well. Please send your donation through the mail to:

Amadeus Steen Foundation
Box 69007
110-2025 Corydon Ave.
Winnipeg MB R3P 2G9

As stated above, the Amadeus Steen Foundation holds events, and you can certainly attend these events if you like. The Winnipeg Foundation Benefit will take place at the Tijuana Yacht Club, and tickets can be obtained by following this link. If you'd like to golf at either event, please click here for the Winnipeg golf event, or click here for the Oakville, Ontario golf event.

You can also sponsor the event if you wish. There are three levels of sponsorship, each with its own merits: Gold Level, Silver Level, and Bronze Level. If you're interested in becoming a sponsor, please click here to obtain more information.

If these options are out of your price range, that's ok. There is an additional way you can help. The Amadeus Steen Foundation, in conjunction with River City Sports, will be collecting $10 from every Jets Steen Classic Cap or Maple Leafs Steen Classic Cap sold through River City Sports. The hats look quite spiffy, and won't set you back a bundle of cash to get one.

Of course, if you have any questions on anything you've seen here, I encourage you to write the Amadeus Steen Foundation with your questions and/or comments.

If it hasn't been already said, the work that the Amadeus Steen Foundation is doing is quite phenomenal. Seeing the Steen family help children in Toronto and Winnipeg is a testament to the Steens' commitment to their communities. And in this commitment, you find the greatest tribute of all: the lasting memory of an angel named Amadeus.

The Amadeus Steen Foundation, the NHLPA, Thomas and Mona Steen, and Alex and Sofie Steen are helping the communities they live in. It's time for us to help them as well.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!