The cast of the Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer benefi t in Troy, Michigan
Rhonda Kasper’s 15-year-old daughter,
Hailey, spearheaded the show because of a per- sonal loss. Her aunt died of clear cell sarcoma at the age of 43 and Hailey wanted to do something to honor her. “She said, ‘Mom, I don’t have any money to
donate in her name but what I can do is skate,’” Rhonda said. “We started looking into diff erent ideas and came across this wonderful organiza- tion. We contacted
sk8@scottcares.org and got the ball rolling. After that, just by putting out the word, we had so many people who wanted to be part of this event.” Skaters from rinks all over the metro-Detroit
area participated in the show, including the FSC of Birmingham, Detroit SC, Mt. Clemens FSC, St. Clair Shores FSC, Onyx FSC, New Edge FSC and the Ice House Academy FSC. T e guest pairs team of Isabelle Goldstein and Keyton Bearinger; professional skaters Daniel Palmeri, Shelby Sylves- ter and Veronica Hochstein; and special guest star Elladj Balde, the 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy winner, also entertained the audience. A committed set of area sponsors and a group of local high school and college students contributed as well. T e event raised more than $6,000 for the
Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation, and the plan is to make it an annual event. “T ese kids worked so hard on this event,”
Rhonda said. “It’s such a great cause.” One of the staple events of Hamilton’s foun-
dation is its “An Evening with Scott Hamilton & Friends,” now in its 17th year. T is year, Olym- pic, World and national champion fi gure skaters will perform to a live concert by an all-star musi- cal lineup with nine-time Grammy-winner Sher- yl Crow as the musical host of the Nashville ben- efi t taking place on Nov. 20 at the Bridgestone Arena. T e Cleveland benefi t is in the process of fi nalizing its musical talent, and its show is con- fi rmed for Nov. 5 at the Quicken Loan Center. To date, the ice show and gala have raised
more than $30 million for the greater good of cancer research and patient needs. “I can’t do it by myself,” said Hamilton, who is always looking for good, smart, impactful
Veronica Hochstein performs in the Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer fundraiser in Troy, Michigan.
people to help him make a diff erence by getting involved. T e idea for CARES was born out of the
isolation Hamilton felt while going through his own cancer treatment in 1997. While he had enlisted the services of some of
the best doctors and nurses and had the support of family and friends, Hamilton felt there was no one around him who intimately understood what he was going through. T e information he found online was clinical and scholarly, and, as Hamil- ton said, “It’s not meant for the patient.” He ultimately felt disconnected. His fi rst order of business was to launch a
website —
www.chemocare.com — in partner- ship with the Cleveland Clinic that provided pa- tients with anything and everything they needed to know about chemotherapy. More importantly, the information was simplifi ed and personalized. “We were ripping the evil mask off of che-
motherapy,” said Hamilton, who then created the 4th Angel Mentoring Program. T e program links cancer survivors trained in peer counseling with individuals facing their own battle with cancer. He later added, “I love people and the can-
cer part of it is its own community in a way. “T eir lives are threatened and now their
lives are new again. It’s like a do-over. Whatever my life was like before, that no longer exists. It’s powerful.” It’s about survivorship. Hamilton, who was single the fi rst time
he went through cancer treatment and is now a married father of four, has an inherent ability to connect with people emotionally. It comes from his own curiosity in asking questions as well as a humanitarian sensibility that came from his adoptive parents. He said his parents were the fi rst to teach him just how small the world is. CARES is less about sharing Hamilton’s sto-
ry — though he did publish T e Great Eight: How to Be Happy (even when you have every reason to be miserable) — and more about helping others the same way he saw his parents help. It’s also about sharing some rather stark realities like the fact that one in two men and one in three women will be aff ected by cancer. One in four will die of cancer, but, it’s equally important to know that if it’s de- tected early, 90 percent of all cancer is treatable. Hamilton’s advice, “Get as many opinions
as possible.” Hamilton, who has been inducted into the
World, U.S. and Olympic Halls of Fame, will always be known as an Olympic gold medalist, but he will also forever be remembered for his humanitarian eff orts. “T e fact that I’ve lived this long is kind of
extraordinary — with all my wonderful health adventures — but to be this involved in so many things, at this point in my life, is insane,” Hamil- ton said. “I never would have imagined that. My goodness, a male skater? T ere’s not a lot of Hol- lywood success stories built around male fi gure skating. “I didn’t choose to have cancer,” he conclud- ed, “but it awakened something inside of me.” For more information on the Scott Hamilton
CARES Foundation or how you can host a Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer fundraiser with your club or rink, visit
scottcares.org, call 1-844-SCOTT-84, or email
sk8@scottcares.org.
SKATING 55
PHOTO BY MIKE DRISCOLL
PHOTO BY MIKE DRISCOLL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
