Victor Hedman donation highlights Lightning's Community Kickoff

The Lightning’s Community Kickoff initiative saw big-time Bolts players make a number of community visits throughout the greater Tampa Bay area Tuesday. And while we’re more than a week away from the official start of the season, new Tampa Bay captain Victor Hedman is already stepping up.

On Monday, Hedman and his wife Sanna pledged a total of $150,000 to Hurricane Helene relief efforts set to be split between the Coast Guard Foundation and the Tampa Police Benevolent Association. The donation comes on the heels of a $2 million pledge on behalf of Jeff Vinik and the Lightning Foundation, $1 million of which was matched by Ferman Motor Car Company.

The collective $3 million will go toward Coast Guard officers, police officers, firefighters, sheriff's officers and teachers throughout the region. Back at the Community Kickoff event, Hedman and his teammates—who chipped in $10,000 of their own to Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay—made pitstops to those who continue to serve our community in its recovery efforts.

Hedman’s own house was not affected by the storm, but thousands around the bay remain displaced, without power, without a home. Among those rebuilding are 11 families within the Tampa Police Department, a few of which were in attendance Tuesday afternoon to finally witness a bit of good news.

“We put out the message that we had officers in need,” Chief of Police Lee Bercaw said Tuesday. “And standing right beside me now are our first responders.”

The Lightning captain responded in kind alongside Mayor Jane Castor in attendance.

“This hurricane affected a lot of people and you guys still have to put your life on the line,” Hedman remarked. “To come home and see your homes destroyed… was just heartbreaking to us. We’re happy to do whatever we can to support you guys.”

The afternoon couldn’t end, of course, without a full tour of the police department and a quick morale boost for the officers working. None of which, luckily, were forced to make an arrest after Nick Paul got his hands on the office Nerf Rage Fire.

The trip to downtown Tampa was just one stop of many for the Lightning’s Community Kickoff. Back at AdventHealth, guys like Jake Guentzel and Mikey Eyssimont joined ThunderBug to hang out with patients and staff for the day.

Meanwhile, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Conor Geekie, Nikita Kucherov and more got back into game shape at the local South Tampa YMCA.

Ryan McDonagh, whose father Sean was a firefighter in Minnesota, took fellow Bolts back to his roots at Tampa Fire. And over at the Special Olympics’ LaVoy Exceptional Center, Brayden Point and the gang wore their away whites to a morning game of ball hockey.

To cap off the day’s events, Hedman and co. took to Clearwater to visit the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station, who made several noted rescues over the weekend to those in danger of Helene’s high waters. A flip of morale was tangible among each and every visit to Tampa Bay’s biggest heroes. It was, if only for a moment, the least the Bolts could do. For Heddy, contributions and acts like these are at the heart of the Lightning’s captaincy—reflected throughout the team, deeply felt within the community. And in moments like this week’s, it’s easy to understand why they’re also the most impactful.

All photos courtesy of Casey Brooke Lawson and Mark LoMoglio for the Tampa Bay Lightning.