8:36 a.m., Oct. 22, 2009----The University of Delaware men's club hockey team has been working hard on and off the ice. The team, without requirement, has been involved in community service both on and off campus since their 2005 season.

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Five years ago the team voted on students for a “leadership team” which, helped plan the team's community service activities.

“We look at ice hockey as a way for us to help kids,” Jackie Lankelis, president of the team, said.

The first team to give back worked with A.I. duPont Hospital for Children Hospital as well as the Food Bank of Delaware. The second year they worked with both the Food Bank and the Boy Scouts. Since then the team has had a longstanding relationship with Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops in the areas

In 2008 the club turned to the Boys and Girls Club and set up a “skate around” for kids, where they taught them to skate and then talked to them afterward about the sport and school.

That year also brought about Hens v. Tens, a charity hockey game that raised $2,000 for the Tim Roman Paul Guyer Foundation, which is dedicated to the memory of two former UD hockey players. The team played against a group of 10-year-olds and the money from the event went to help donate equipment and ice time to underprivileged young people.

This year, the team has already begun planning for their events, which will be held during the winter.

“Our team looks at how blessed we've been, being able to play this sport and gain so much from it, the least we can do is try to give some of that back to the younger generations,” Lankelis said.

Although community service is not a requirement for all UD club teams, Lankelis said he is happy his chose to help out.

“I think we've been blessed with a good group of guys who found it important to give back and get something out of it,” he said.

Article by Erica Cohen