Blues ownership led by Tom Stillman, Blues players led by captain Alex Pietrangelo, and local donors, led by a $100,000 donation from Blues season ticket holder Andy Frisella, worked together late last week and over the weekend to establish the fund.
All St. Louis Blues players made a personal donation to the Blues Employee Assistance Fund. Frisella is a longtime Blues fan and local entrepreneur.
In addition to administering the fund, Blues for Kids has authorized a sizeable donation to the cause from proceeds generated by the 50-50 raffle at each Blues home game. This means that Blues fans - through buying 50-50 tickets - are also assisting those who make their experience at Enterprise Center the best in the NHL.
Fans who would like to support the Blues Employee Assistance Fund can donate by visiting
blues.givesmart.com
or by texting 'blues' to 76278. Any excess funding will be donated to local efforts focused on COVID-19-related causes.
"It is gratifying to have multiple groups within the Blues family stepping up to support our game-night workers, although it's not surprising given the character of the people in our organization and in the community," Stillman said. "These are unprecedented and uncertain times, but we will get through this together and we'll be back when it's safe for everyone involved."
"This is a great idea and the boys are really happy to play a part to help everyone who makes things run smoothly for us and the fans on game nights," Pietrangelo said. "We're also really proud to partner with Blues ownership and the front office, and really appreciate the contribution they're making to help the cause. We're a tight organization throughout, and it shows with the creation of this fund."
"St. Louis has always been extremely good to me, and now it's my turn to do something good for St. Louis by joining the Blues in this effort," Frisella said. "There are a lot of people negatively impacted by this, but we have an opportunity in front of us as a community to step up and do what St. Louis does best, and that's helping one another. I hope others who are able to help will join us and show the world there is no better city in the world than St. Louis."
