Shawn McMullen among veterans to be honored on Hometown Heroes Night

Shawn McMullen had an unmistakable sense of humor. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of movie quotes, ranging from "The Notebook" to Adam Sandler. He loved children. He was, in his mother's words, chivalrous and honorable.
Perhaps most prominently, Shawn lived to help others. He enlisted in the United States Army, a 19 Delta Calvary Scout, out of a sense of duty. He helped tend to other injured veterans even after suffering his own injuries during active service.
He passed away at 26 in 2015, but not without one last gift. Shawn wore a green bracelet for organ donation at the time of his death.

"We had talked to Shawn about organ donation when he was probably 15 because we had a family friend whose daughter died as a senior in high school, and she was an organ donor," Shawn's mother, Diane McMullen, said. "So, he knew about it. But we never talked about it after that.
"So, then the decision came for us. And it was pretty easy because he had that bracelet on, we knew that was his wish. So again, kind of finally, Shawn was helping somebody out."

Shawn's heart was given to Scott Hesko, a meteorologist at WHAM in Rochester and a father of three. His donation helped give life to four other individuals.
Shawn McMullen will be among the veterans honored during Tuesday's game between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning. It will be "Hometown Heroes Night" at KeyBank Center, held in honor of first responders, frontline workers, and military members in Western New York.
The Sabres will take the ice for warmups wearing the names of fallen veterans. The McMullen family chose alternate captain Kyle Okposo to wear Shawn's name. Though Okposo will not play due to COVID-19, the family will receive the signed jersey.
In memory of Shawn's sacrifice, the McMullen family founded "Shawn's Heroes for Life," a non-profit organization dedicated to "carrying out Shawn's goodness through assistance, awareness, and education regarding veterans in need and organ donation."
What began as a blood drive in 2017 has evolved into a family-run operation geared toward carrying on Shawn's legacy. Part of the inspiration came from Shawn's own project at Dale Carnegie, a professional development program he attended shortly after returning home from his service.
"His personal goal was to acclimate to civilian life, and it was really hard," Diane McMullen said. "And then we learned that it's hard for so many of our veterans and that's one of the reasons that we find them to be poor and homeless and struggling, is because they go from this intense structure and order to nothing. And sometimes not the respect that they should get either."
The organization's many impacts include:
• Preparing and distributing "Welcome Bins" for veterans who are moving into homes through the Housing Assistance for Veterans Program, including kitchenware, cleaning supplies, bed sheets, and a homemade blanket.
• Preparing and distributing backpacks to homeless veterans with socks, cleaning wipes, lip balm, and a homemade scarf.
• Over 400 pints of blood collected through an annual blood drive, which was held for the fifth time in 2021.
• Responses to countless individual veterans in need, including fees covered for funerals, hospital stays, and Christmas gifts.

The Sabres hope to amplify missions like theirs on Hometown Heroes Night.
"We knew that that's what Shawn would like," Diane McMullen said. "He was one of those people that, if someone thanked him for his service, he loved it. He was very proud of his service. He believed that it was really important that these men and women in uniform should be respected."