During Rangers Garden of Dreams Night on December 12th, five Garden of Dreams young people skated out onto the ice at the World’s Most Famous Arena with the starting lineup as Honorary Rangers!
The five young people who partook in this honor were part of Garden of Dreams’ “Learn To Play” program, which was launched this fall in partnership with the New York Rangers and the NHL. In this program, 100 Garden of Dreams children from Foundation Partner organizations WHEDco and SCAN-Harbor in the South Bronx, who would not otherwise have access to the sport, participated in skill-building sessions.
The program provides all participants with custom-fit hockey gear from official NHL manufacturer CCM, and teaches them hockey fundamentals – such as skating, stickhandling, and shooting – over the course of ten weeks. All 100 participants, including the five Honorary Rangers, will showcase their amazing progress as hockey players (and fans) at closing ceremony events at their last sessions in early February.
We know we may see these future hockey stars on the ice again – perhaps in their own professional uniforms next time!