BUFFALO (WBEN) - The puck has dropped and play is underway at Harbor Center to kick off the 11 Day Power Play, which has quickly become a staple fundraiser for cancer research right here in Western New York.
First puck drop of the #11DPP Community Shift. Team Simpsons versus the Benchmark Turnkey Dirtwashers. #PuttingCancerOnIce pic.twitter.com/G2aiISnOno
— 11 Day Power Play (@11DayPowerPlay) July 5, 2019
"The 11 Day Power Play is an 11-day hockey marathon game to fight cancer," said co-creator Amy Lesakowski. "This will be our second year as a community shift - the first year we were a 40-man squad trying to break a Guinness Book world record - but now we have moved into a community shift, and this year we have 2,500 players that are going to get out on the ice and fight cancer."
The first shift begins at 6 am on Friday morning, and then every three hours until July 15th, a new pair of teams will hop on the ice for their session.
"We've asked each of the participants to raise $500 and many have have exceeded that," Lesakowski continued. "We have actually already beaten last year's end result, which was $1.28 million."
With last year's total already surpassed, Lesakowski discussed the goal for this year and more about where the money is heading.
"We're hoping to get to $1.6 million - that would be incredible for out beneficiaries," she said. "We support Roswell Park; they're our primary beneficiary for cutting edge cancer research. We also support Make A Wish of Western New York and Camp Good Days, so whatever we can do here is just really going to help those wonderful organizations."
She also explained that the support for this event goes well beyond monetary giving, as a ton of man hours from hundreds of people have gone into making the 11 Day Power Play a success.
"The 11 Day Power Play is a volunteer organization," said Lesakowski. "We primarily have all volunteers, over 320 people, over these 11 days that contribute to the 11 Day Power Play and our mission to fight cancer. It's an incredible event that a lot of heart and soul is put into it. We have local community organizations and companies that support us - a lot of it is all pro bono work - and we would not be here in our third year without that support."
