It was in 2014 when a game of Kan Jam at a family reunion in a New Jersey backyard kickstarted a foundation that has done so many great things for families who are going through a battle with cancer. Jamey Crimmins was training for the New York City Marathon and he decided to run in memory of his father-in-law Fred Goldberg who had passed away from cancer in 2012. Crimmins would run as a member of “Fred’s Team”, a group that ran as a fundraiser for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center every year.
Jamey pitched the idea of a Kan Jam tournament and the Jam Kancer in the Kan Foundation was born with an event on September 20th, 2014 in the Goldberg’s backyard in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
Two years later, Islanders forward and now Captain Anders Lee joined the foundation as a “JAMbassador” and launched his own event. This Saturday September 13th, Lee presents his annual “Anders Jam” at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, the Islanders’ practice facility at Eisenhower Park.
It's become an unofficial start to Islanders Training Camp, especially with all of his teammates on hand to lend their support.
“It’s grown so much,” said Lee. “To kind of have it become a little bit of a tradition means a lot to me and means a lot to our foundation. I’m really proud of the boys that they come out every year and support me on this.”
This will be the third straight year that Lee has held his event on Long Island. His “Anders Jam” actually started in Brooklyn when the Islanders were calling Barclays Center home. For Lee and some of his teammates, it all started with a train ride to Atlantic Terminal.
“We shot the first promotional video,” said Crimmins, the Founder of the Jam Kancer in the Kan Foundation. “It was Anders, Thomas Hickey, Travis Hamonic and Brock Nelson…they took the train from Long Island just to shoot a promo video. And now you think all these years and we’re still doing this and Anders has taken this to so many levels higher.”
The COVID-19 pandemic halted the event for a couple of years but the Anders Jam returned in 2023 and the foundation has done some amazing things raising more than $3,200,000 with “Kancer Jam” fundraising events that are held in local communities and NHL cities across the country since its inception in 2016.
Not bad for a frisbee game and some fun being around teammates and fans.
“Looking back, I can’t believe how far we’ve come with it and how much we’ve been able to do,” said Lee who won the 2024 King Clancy Memorial Trophy given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.
That is a perfect description of Lee.
“It started out with trying to do the right thing and it’s turned into something pretty special,” said Lee who was named Islanders Captain in 2018. “Something that I’ve always thought very fondly of Long Island is that when people are in need, this community can really rally around one another and I’ve always admired that from being here on the Island.”
In addition to the Kan Jam events, Jam Kancer in the Kan also has three scholarships including one named in the memory of Fenov Pierre-Louis, a young man who Lee met through the foundation. He was beloved by so many, but he lost his battle with cancer in 2018 when he would have been entering his senior year of high school. Fenov was a student at the Academy of Information Technology (AIT) so the foundation presents a $1000 AIT Fenov Memorial Scholarship to a graduating senior who is going on to college and who has gone out of their way to support someone with cancer.
“He’s always in our minds,” said Lee. “He’s the reason why we continued to push through with this and hold it every year in his honor. There are people in your life who come in at certain times and make a big impact on you. Fenov was that for me and for a lot of people in this foundation. He was a special person and we talk about him all the time for good reason and it’s an honor for me to be able to honor him.”
“Anders Jam ‘25” will take place this Saturday from 1230pm to 4pm. There are 32 team slots available and you can register your team on the foundation’s website using this link…
https://jamkancerinthekan.networkforgood.com/projects/256093-anders-jam-25.
The day begins with opening ceremonies and then the opening flight (first game) getting underway at 115pm. The championship flight is set to start at 330pm and the day concludes with a championship ceremony and closing remarks at 345pm.
While it’s not an official team event, the Islanders organization, led by their outstanding community relations department, lends all the help that the foundation needs to ensure that the day is a smashing success.
It’s another example of the Islanders’ commitment to the community on Long Island.
“There’s the Islanders and there’s everybody else,” said Crimmins. “The players always there. It’s one of their last days off but they’re always there to support Anders and from a fan’s perspective, Islanders fans love that. The Islanders organization treats this event like it’s their own and want to make sure that we do everything we can to succeed.”
If you can’t make it to the event, you can still participate through an on-line auction that will go live this week. Among the items are Islanders game experiences and memorabilia, items from Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby and a team-signed Florida Panthers jersey.
The Islanders will hold their annual golf outing next week before training camp arrives, but you really know that the new season is about to start when Anders Lee holds his “Anders Jam”. It’s a great event for a great cause and it’s a wonderful and fun way for the fans and players to mingle while helping families on Long Island.