Playing hockey for St. Jude’s

Lemonade, slap shots, and government officials helped a 7-year-old Lynbrook boy raise more than $1,000 for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Aiden Healey started his fundraising efforts three years ago with a lemonade stand, raising $960, and this year he stepped up his game with charity street hockey.

He came up with the idea of opening a lemonade stand as a charitable fundraiser in 2019, after watching a commercial for St. Jude’s.

According to his dad, Mike Healey, Aiden saw the commercial for St. Jude’s and began asking questions about why the children were missing their hair, which his father attempted to explain in the simplest of terms.

“He said, ‘Daddy, I want to help those kids,” Mike Healey said. “Aiden said they could have his piggybank.”

Following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Aiden became a big fan of the New York Rangers, which motivated him and his little brother, Liam, 5, to try to do more than sell lemonade.

Thanks to the support of the local community and the assistance from Lynbrook Police Chief Brian Paladino, the block in front of the Healey’s house was closed off Sunday, Sept. 25, so that the kids could safely participate in a street hockey game.

“The police chief was so helpful in putting this all together,” Mike said. “He helped out by supplying the kids with hockey sticks. We couldn’t have done it without him.”

Before the game, parents in the community took “bets” on which of the teams they thought would win the game between the dads versus the kids. Naturally, the kids’ bucket was filled to the brim with donations for St. Jude’s.

“I scored five goals,” Aiden said. “If you ask me, it was a lot of fun to beat my dad.”

Aiden celebrated each of his goals with a high kick, just like his favorite Rangers forward, Artemi Panarin.

Initially, the plan was to have the dads play the kids, but things quickly changed when Lynbrook Mayor Alan Beach and the members of the Board of Trustees showed up to play.

“It actually ended up being a hoot,” Mayor Beach said. “The whole village board ended up playing hockey against the kids.

“It was really nice to see the young people get involved and pitch in to help a worthy cause.”

The kids’ team continued to dominate, claiming an easy victory over village officials.

Apart from the money raised on the game, Aiden and Liam collected donations with their “Buck for a Puck” game and sold some refreshing glasses of lemonade, which helped cool off players after the game.

His mother, Kathleen Healey, said that after collecting the money from the first lemonade stand, Aiden was so excited to get the check that as soon as it came in, he went and put it straight into the mail slot.

“We’ve never been so proud,” she said. “Of all the money he has helped raise, he has never asked for a dime of it.”

Because of his selfless efforts to raise money for children struggling with cancer, the New York Rangers hockey club thanked Aiden and his family with some “Hockey Fights Cancer” commemorative patches.

Aiden plans on hosting a similar event next year, as the support for his charitable efforts continue to gain momentum, only this time, it will feature a charity baseball game instead.

“We always watch sports together,” Mike said, “And over the years, he has really gotten into baseball.”

He hopes that by bringing the national pastime into the mix, the family’s lemonade stand will help raise even more money for the children at St. Jude’s next year.