My name is Ben Stern and my hockey teammates call me "Bubba." I'm a 7th grade student and I play travel hockey with
the New Jersey Devils Youth Hockey Club.
In addition to my team's games on the weekends, I volunteer several hours each weekend with our primary program and skills clinics, and
I am a junior coach with the DareDevils, a special needs hockey program.
This April, I'll be celebrating my Bar Mitzvah, and Assist From Bubba
is one of the "mitzvah", or community service projects, that are part
of my preparations. In addition to leading the prayer service and reading from
the Torah, my mitzvah projects prepare me for
the responsibilities of Jewish
adulthood by getting me
involved in activities called
tikkun olam, or "healing the world."
Working with the DareDevils and the primary program is one of my mitzvah projects that allows me to give
my time, and this web site and fund-raising project is about financial giving.
Skating with the primary program. Some of
our beginning hockey players are 3 years old.
News Flash!
I'm going to be on the April 22, 2007 (date change again!)
airing of
Nick News at 8:30 pm EDT/7:30 pm CDT
on the Nickelodeon network.
The Nick News film crew taped a segment about special
needs hockey programs, featuring my Dare Devils team
mates, and they interviewed me as part of the show.
Assist From Bubba has been recognized by
Athletes Against Autism as a supporter of
Cure Autism Now.
What's An Assist From Bubba?
I'm a defenseman, and we don't score a lot of goals. In addition to helping
our goalie keep the puck out of our own net, a defenseman can set up scoring
plays by passing the puck or taking a shot that gets redirected into the
net. When you start a scoring play, you are credited with an assist,
sometimes called a "helper" in hockey slang. Assists count equally with goals
for scoring statistics in all hockey leagues, because they emphasize teamwork
and credit the players who set up the goal scorer.
Assist From Bubba is my chance to help set up scientists, researchers
and other organizations involved with autism research and providing
services to people with autism. This is your chance to get credited
with an assist as well, as I'll be donating the funds raised through
this project, along with a portion of the gifts that I receive for
my Bar Mitzvah, to Autism Speaks,
Cure Autism Now,
and the DareDevils program.
Why Autism Research?
Many of my DareDevils hockey friends have autism. Autism can make it hard to express emotions, so sometimes we communicate by doing hockey drills like passing
a puck or working on our skating together.
April is Autism Awareness Month, and it's also the month of my birthday
and Bar Mitzvah.
Washington Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig and other
hockey players who have children with autism
have started Athletes Against Autism as part of Cure Autism Now.
Athletes with special needs represent another kind of diversity
in sports. I am active in diversity issues, working on the Diversity Council
at my school. The National Hockey League
also emphasizes diversity in hockey through the
"Hockey is for Everyone"
program. Scott Gomez, one of my favorite NHL Devils, is a spokesperson
for NHL Diversity. I still remember shaking hands 3 years ago
with Willie O'Ree, the first black player in the NHL and
the head of the Willie O'Ree All-Star Weekend for diversity players.
How You Can Earn An Assist
My hockey coach always says that everyone has to play
for us to win. Every donation, even $1, will help.
There are five ways to score a goal in hockey (even
strength, power play, short handed, penalty shot and into
an empty net) and here are five ways to help me
make an assist against autism:
New items are being added to the auction sites every week!
My Goals
I want as many people as possible to visit this site, and to
make contributions. This will raise awareness of autism research
and special needs hockey programs.
I want to show how one teenager can begin to help "heal the world" using
the Internet and an assist from his parents.
That's why I'm tracking the donations that come the longest distance to NJ.
Please pass this URL on to other people you know, and please help
support my mitzvah project.
Aggressive Snowman Group web
design and hockey writing, Stick Sock for their donation
Miracle on Ice Poster creator Mr. Brandwein for his donation of
posters,
Mrs. Ceccon and Mrs. Trampota from the DareDevils
organization, and Ms. Werk for being mitzvah project central.
