Latest / The Good Side of Sports Podcast / Pucks & Purpose: Inside the Blue Jackets Foundation

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Pucks & Purpose: Inside the Blue Jackets Foundation · The Good Side of Sports Podcast

• 0:00
  And it caroms all the way back to neutral ice. Now Zach again, he's all
• 0:03
  over the ice here. First period, Zach in deep on the
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  left wing, fires from a sharp angle, and the deflection! Jackets score!
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  Hello and welcome to another episode of the Good Side of Sports
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  podcast, where we highlight the good being done by athletes and organizations.
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  I'm your host, Brian Hartong, and today we're coming to you from Columbus,
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  Ohio, inside Nationwide Arena, which is the home of
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  the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League as well as the
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  Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation. And joining me today is Tara Badiato.
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  I'm good in hockey because I have a tough last name to pronounce.
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  Exactly. Found my home. Exactly. Well, welcome to the show.
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  Thank you for having me. Um, so I guess we'll start off a little
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  bit, find out about you and then about the foundation or your role in the
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  foundation. So I am just finished my first season
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  with the club. I moved to Columbus in October
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  of 2025. Um, I have always been in sports philanthropy
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  for the last 17 seasons, spent some time in the NFL
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  with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Denver Broncos. And then I started my
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  sports journey in game entertainment with the Houston Rockets. Oh wow.
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  Yeah. So understand the power of sports and the beauty that
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  is bringing, uh, so many different people from all different walks
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  of life together to cheer on the team to a victory. And making
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  a career out of it has been something really special. That's awesome. What, uh,
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  what brought you here? So Columbus, after all this? So of
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  all places, Columbus. Well, the weather, clearly. Right. So stoked.
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  Um, no, the Jackets are a really special organization.
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  I knew it from the jump when, um, the recruiter called me.
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  The Golden Rule is something that is woven into every
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  single part of our business, and it started with Mr.
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  Mac, Mr. McConnell, our late owner.
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  And he, um, really just truly like,
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  treat everybody how you want to be treated. And from the moment I had
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  a recruiting call all the way up through the interview process, I'm like, oh,
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  this is a very special place with a lot, a lot of opportunity. Like,
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  please pick me. Like, please let me be here. And so Once I
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  got in the building, like every single one of my teammates, the players, our 5th
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  line, the partners, I mean, it's just such a
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  special place to be able to work. So yeah, I'm happy to be here.
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  So if people don't know about the foundation, what's the mission and how
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  long has it been in existence? Yeah, so from the very beginning,
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  2000, and we just celebrated our 25th season last year.
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  So in 2000, Mr. McConnell, very simple but
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  very powerful mission, make Columbus better. So we
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  do that through, um, our mission of health and
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  wellness for families and children in Central Ohio. Okay.
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  Um, is there a story, a specific story that you— that sticks out to you
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  as far as like how the foundation has affected someone?
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  Oh, we have so many moments every day there,
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  you know, even if it's with Stinger and having like this crucial
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  moment with a fan that traveled from far and wide to
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  meet him and they were so excited, all the way up to, you know,
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  Our players are such incredible ambassadors for our organization or working
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  with our board. So there's a ton of stories.
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  And I knew this question was coming in. Our incredible comms team
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  and Lindy specifically, who is such an all-star, recently promoted.
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  So congrats. Good, good work to Lindy. She prepared
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  me for this and I just like, I know I have to narrow it down,
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  but there's so many incredible things that we get to do.
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  Specifically, we got to just open up a ropes course. For Flying Horse Farms.
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  And one of my very first days, we had a grant
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  reception here at Nationwide Arena where we get to talk to all of our grant
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  recipients for the season. And, you know, at that point I was just quite
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  frankly like reading words, 'cause I was brand new to the gig. And as
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  I was reading, and as I'm going through and meeting the groups,
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  I just became kind of overwhelmed with emotion, because I knew that
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  we of course have our 4 pillars of course wanna grow the game
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  of hockey, but truly, like, these groups, and one of
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  them being Flying Horse Farms with an adaptive ropes course, like, that we
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  invested over $200,000 just to make these kiddos' lives better.
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  Like, I was overwhelmed with emotion 'cause I get to be in
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  this leading role to be able to make those changes happen.
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  Just something like that, right? Like, we're a sports team, but like, we care
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  enough to look at these kiddos and be like, hey, challenge by choice. Like,
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  we want you to be able to feel empowered, to be
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  brave, and be able to participate just like any other able-bodied
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  child. So yeah, that was like my very first moment and my very
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  first thing on the time on the gig. Excuse me.
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  That's okay. Yeah, like my first time. So that's
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  something that's special, sticks out to me. I know the foundation's—
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  so Grow the Game, as far as like, I know you guys give out equipment.
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  Is that part of the foundation as well? Yeah. For sure. So, we actually have
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  a Recycle the Game program that's coming up where fans and
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  families can donate gently used equipment to then we
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  repurpose them and clean them up and then sell them at a very discounted
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  price to individuals who want to try to play
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  the game of hockey. It is, you know, we're aware that there's quite a barrier
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  of entry. One, ice time, incredibly expensive.
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  Two, the gear it just takes to be able to step on the ice.
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  And then of course, 3, when they're little kiddos, they're growing at such a
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  rapid rate. And so it is, it is a pretty, it's a pretty big investment.
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  So to be able to lower that barrier of entry and be able to create
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  access for all children is something we're really proud of.
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  You were saying about grants, how many grants do you give out a year?
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  Yeah, so there's not a specific number.
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  Whatever we generate in donations throughout
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  the season is really what I get to work with, which is also very unique
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  to our club. Whatever we raise, we give directly out the very next season.
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  This season we have 28 grant recipients for a little more than
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  $1.5 million. Hmm. Do they know that they are recipients?
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  They know. Okay. We're not announcing it until officially
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  like mid-October. Okay, I was gonna ask who they were, but we don't know yet.
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  No, so we have our 4 pillars. I don't know if I've touched on
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  that yet. So it's pediatric cancer, health and safety,
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  growing the game of hockey, and then education. Okay. So what
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  does that mean? Like, right? So education specifically through literacy. We have
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  some pretty awesome K through 3 benchmarks for literacy
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  here in the state of Ohio. So being able to make reading fun
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  and exciting for children is something that's important to us.
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  Health and safety, that's really activity through play. We found
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  a really unique kind of lane with our playground builds. Okay.
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  So we build these state-of-the-art adaptive, very cool if
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  you ask me, Blue Jackets hockey-themed playgrounds.
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  Oh, okay. So that's really great. We just built our 15th playground.
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  So all around the city? Yep, all around Central Ohio.
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  Pediatric cancer, we do therapy through distraction.
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  So we understand that these kiddos and families are going through quite a bit.
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  So to be able to provide them an experience experience, to have some respite,
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  come out, have a good time, and just feel
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  like a kid again is something that's really important to us. And then of course
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  growing hockey. So if that's through scholarships, supporting travel teams,
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  if it's through building rinks, outdoor rinks to be able to create access
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  to the game, or refurbishing equipment,
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  you name it, we're kind of a part of it. Do you guys, I know
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  there's several chillers in the area. Yep, 6 chillers. Are you guys
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  associated with those or do you do anything with those? We do, we are associated
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  with them. We have a AAA team. That works out of the Chillers.
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  We have a Chiller here at the arena, so if you want to go skate,
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  that's always a ton of fun. And then we do run our youth programming,
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  our Power Play Challenge, and then our Get Out and Learn. Okay.
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  Through the Chillers as well. And then employees also get to skate. Oh, really?
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  Right. Oh, that's cool. In case you want to know, you may find me or
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  one of my colleagues like taking some skate lessons on our Sundays off. I,
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  uh, one of my buddies plays hockey and he said you should come out.
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  So I went to one of the chillers and found out that as long as
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  you can go 2 miles an hour, I'm in. But that's, that's about the speed.
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  I mean, it's— I make the joke all the time
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  that like hockey is such an incredible sport and
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  they make it look so easy. And that's where it's like you
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  don't even realize it because skating is— you can't skate. If you can't skate,
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  you can't play hockey, right? Right. Um, and so that's the first step.
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  And so when we were having all of these get out and learn and
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  We had a specific one with our gal pals, which I love. And it was
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  girls between 5 and 9, just to get them on the ice and
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  have fun. And they were so fearless. And it was such a
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  great Saturday that it inspired me. So I did take lessons and I do currently
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  take lessons, but it's almost like when I talk to our athletes, I almost don't
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  want to tell them because they'll check in on me like, how's everything going?
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  And I'm like, I can almost hockey stop, but I can't because I don't
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  have the velocity. Right. Yeah. But you do have to be fearless. That's what I
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  want to do. I want to— I know the hockey stop is so cool.
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  It's so cool. And skating backwards. And yeah, I mean, it's a beautiful sport and
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  they make it look so easy, but these individuals have been training for so long
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  and, and they even train now. Like skating is, you could see now
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  when you, like a little tip I'll tell you is when they get on the
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  ice, you can actually see them like look down or kind of hold on because
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  it is like that first step. Right. Yeah. Even the pros, like you gotta be
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  careful. Do they, do any players get involved with any of the
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  initiatives that you have? So we have our significant others and spouses
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  group associated with our hockey operations and hockey players.
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  We call them the Lady Jackets. So a lot of these women are
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  incredible skaters. So they have come out to some of our clinics and helped
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  inspire and coach. And then the players, you know, they're incredible
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  ambassadors for our club. And if you know anything about hockey,
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  it is a grueling schedule. And that is one thing that I
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  have to highlight because they are not only playing 42 home
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  games at home, but 42 road games. In addition,
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  they're like playing a game, immediately getting on a plane, playing a game
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  next day. So for them to then, in addition to
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  professional life and then all of their upkeep and training throughout their career
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  and then their personal life, they do make like such incredible
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  appearances for the foundation. If it's showing up to a hockey clinic,
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  if it's having an experience after a game to meet one of our either
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  community heroes, or maybe it was a foundation auction
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  item to meet the families. Or like, they, they go above
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  and beyond, and I cannot like shout from the rooftops enough how
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  incredible like our entire team is. Do you— is there any players
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  that have specific foundations or that are linked with yours? You know,
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  there are mission alignment throughout the locker room, and it's always interesting because every
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  year the roster changes, and every year like They also change as human
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  beings, right? Maybe they became a parent, maybe they grew a
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  little, you know, if they just came from a different country and they're here in
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  America and they're learning a little bit about Central Ohio. So the mission alignment
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  kind of changes. Okay. Um, specifically, you know, Zach Worinsky,
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  he has first responders. He grew up, his father was a first responder.
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  Oh, okay. Um, and so that's something that's really great with him. Charlie Coyle,
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  who we're so stoked to have back. Yeah. With a nice big contract.
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  Like, couldn't be more stoked for him and his family. Right. Um, you know,
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  he has 2 little daughters, and so, um,
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  pediatric cancer with him and making appearances at the Ronald McDonald House,
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  going above and beyond, is always something special.
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  Um, is there any fundraiser events or big
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  events that you guys do annually, or is there a series that you have,
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  a schedule of events that you have? Yeah, so we have 2 big fundraising events
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  each season. The golf, the Golf Classic, which is coming up.
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  I'm locking in. I just ordered our golf gift. I'm pretty excited about it.
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  It's at Double Eagle Golf Course, which is a pretty exclusive golf course here in
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  Columbus. I didn't know that the golfing scene was so huge when I moved here.
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  Yeah, it's big. It's pretty big. And so Double Eagle,
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  that's a big one for us. And then we have the Cannonball, which is,
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  we like to call the party of the year. Okay. It's our charity gala,
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  but it's not like any other gala because it's themed.
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  It's, last year it was here at the arena. You come,
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  you have a good time. The program's a little short, which I love. I know,
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  don't tell my, like, nonprofit friends. Right. But the program is
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  like, we're in it, our players are there, their loved ones are there. It's just
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  like a party and we raise a ton of money. I saw some of the
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  pictures that you guys posted of like the players coming in and the outfits
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  and stuff like that. It was pretty— yeah, looked like they're having a good time.
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  We love a theme in Columbus also. The Blue Jackets love a theme.
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  Right. So what would you say your most successful
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  event is? Is it that one as far as raising funds? My next one.
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  Right? Isn't that what the— yeah, right. Um, really what
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  we're looking forward to this year— so on game
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  day we have a 50/50 raffle and
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  an auction, an online auction.
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  And we have such a captive audience here. We have incredible 5th Line fans,
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  85% occupancy almost every single game. It's— yeah, the attendance is great.
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  We are in and we are committed. And so one of my main goals this
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  year is to just continue to tell our story through the foundation and tell our
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  Fifth Line because the 50/50 is something
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  you could do every single game day and you're contributing. Well, one, you could win
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  50% of the pot, which is awesome. Good on you.
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  I would love to win. And then secondly, you're contributing directly
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  into the groups and the nonprofits that we are granting. So a lot
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  of the nonprofits come volunteer with us and
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  sell the 50/50 raffle. So you're not only learning about the Blue Jackets mission,
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  you're also learning about theirs. So it's really a win-win for everybody,
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  and it's just like such an easy way to get involved and
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  feel good about yourself and feel good about our mission. So really looking
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  forward to telling the story of the 50/50 and the online auction. And plus
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  you get some really cool signed gear. We have
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  like jerseys or signed equipment.
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  So in our group, um, our foundation
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  manager, her name is Mary, she's incredibly, uh, creative. And so we'll
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  like tie the auction into the game theme. So if
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  it's, you know, St. Patrick's theme, you'll see like all this really cool green gear.
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  Or Marchy, Kirill Marchenko,
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  we had March Madness, so it was like a whole auction for Marchy,
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  which was fun. Um, so it's just creative and a great way to tribute.
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  I know the silent auction, you can— you don't even have to be here.
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  No, you don't. Do you have to do the 50/50? Do you have to be
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  here? You do not. You can buy online. Okay, great question. Okay, yes, both of
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  them you can buy online. You have to be— for the 50/50, you have to
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  be within a specific radius in Central Ohio, but the online auction,
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  just let it rip. Yeah, it'd be anywhere. I've— I get messages when they— when
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  it's time to— thank you for opting in.
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  For sure. Um, my mother will like continue to buy things online. I'm like,
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  Billy, stop buying this. I can get you something signed. But she wants
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  to contribute, right? We appreciate her donation. But, um, as far as
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  corporate sponsors, yeah, do you have a lot of contributions from
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  the, the business, local businesses? Yeah, we are so thankful for our sponsors, uh,
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  because it really just elevates the story and it continues to
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  tell not only our mission but our nonprofit grant recipients'
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  missions. And we continue to get do that through our partners. You know,
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  the adaptive ropes course, for instance,
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  Greif is one of our partners and they also contributed to that
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  ropes course. So it was like not only elevated through us but also a
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  partnership. Many, many of our partners have
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  a community component. So the Carpenters Union
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  is one of our partners and we just built playhouses for Habitat for
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  Humanity, which was awesome. So they came in, it was a volunteer opportunity
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  for their staff. We built 10 homes, these play homes,
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  gifted it the same day. So, you know, it was
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  a win-win for everyone involved, and the kiddos got to come and see them,
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  and the carpenters felt great, we felt great. We got to use Nationwide Arena for
• 16:27
  the backdrop for them to be able to build. So yes, partners are
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  involved in almost every single one of our community. The,
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  the 5K, is that part of you guys as well? Okay, the FitLine
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  5K is not, um, does not have a charitable,
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  um, reach. Well, it's not connected through the foundation.
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  It is like through our fans and our marketing, which is fun. I got to
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  run it this year. I ran it 2 years ago. Was it cold when you
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  ran it? Yeah, it was super cold. Yeah, it was freezing. I was running it
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  and I'm like, what am I doing? But we have the 50/50 raffle and then
• 16:56
  the auction at the FitLine. Okay, 5K, cool. Um, I know pediatric
• 17:01
  cancer is, is really big because I think you guys have dedicated a couple games
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  to it. Like, for sure, you'll have like, uh, yeah, in between like the breaks
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  you'll talk about it and stuff like that. Totally. So it's cause marketing. It's one
• 17:13
  of the— through the NHL they have some benchmarks that we all need to meet,
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  and Hockey Fights Cancer is one of our evenings.
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  And we're just focused on pediatric cancer, so that is what cancer
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  that we really do emphasize on that evening. It's something that
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  is from the very beginning of our club. With Nationwide
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  Children's Hospital right down the street, it was just a no-brainer for us to really
• 17:35
  focus in on that pediatric cancer piece. This last season, we made a
• 17:39
  $1.5 million donation to Nationwide Children's.
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  We're really proud of that. They do incredible work. We do our
• 17:47
  annual player hospital visit at Nationwide Children's, so the entire roster
• 17:52
  gets to go and visit the patients, which is really incredibly special. We hand out
• 17:56
  courage kits, which is just a bunch of really cool Blue Jackets
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  swag, and the players sign them and spend, you know, 5 to 10 minutes
• 18:04
  in each room and just get to meet the families, which is special for us.
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  But, you know, we have a— at Nationwide Children's, we also have a,
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  like, a family care unit at the bottom of the
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  hospital, and it's Just add— it's a place for the families to be able to
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  wash their clothes, take their kids to play, whatever they need
• 18:24
  to do to kind of have a little bit of respite. So we're gonna do
• 18:27
  a complete overhaul of that room because we did open it in 2000.
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  And then we are starting a Heart and Glory Fund. Okay.
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  And that's really just for anything that the
• 18:37
  patients will need and the families throughout their stay. So if it's journaling,
• 18:41
  if it is a visit from a therapy dog,
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  if it's anything they need, we're going to be able to provide
• 18:48
  that for them. I did an episode with the Hall of Fame
• 18:52
  and they said whenever a new group come in, they get
• 18:56
  with them and if there's a charity that they want to support. Do you guys,
• 18:59
  when new players come in or every year, do you get with the players and
• 19:02
  say, hey? We do. Yeah. We have a survey each season that we get to
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  talk through and kind of find out mission alignment and let them know what
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  our mission is. What mission pillars are. Similar to our fans, you know, you just
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  gotta keep repeating it over and over and over again. Because, you know, like this
• 19:17
  podcast, you know, we're not normally— like sometimes the nonprofit world,
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  like it's not the sexiest of topics, right? And so to be able
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  to continue to tell our mission, continue to tell them about
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  our grant recipients, what our plans are for the year, we sit down with
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  each of them and just chat it out. And then they get to tell us
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  what their mission alignment is as well, you know. We have
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  a huge footprint at the Ronald McDonald House. Oh, okay. And it's right
• 19:43
  across the street from Nationwide Children's here in Ohio and in Columbus, excuse me.
• 19:46
  And it started with our Lady Jackets and they
• 19:50
  were looking at something to be able programming to continue throughout
• 19:54
  the season and they have really just wrapped their arms around them. We have an
• 19:57
  incredible footprint there, the whole bottom basement.
• 20:01
  We have a princess room where they get to have princess outfits
• 20:05
  that they try on. We're remodeling the hair salon this year.
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  The Lady Jackets go monthly and serve,
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  they cook a meal and serve a meal to the patients.
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  Sean Monahan did a bingo night. Like we really just
• 20:20
  like, we find this mission alignment because they let us know. And it's through those
• 20:24
  conversations and us telling our mission and us telling our stories that
• 20:27
  they're inspired. And not only are they new to Columbus, but they also
• 20:31
  could have had a really awesome program in their previous club. Okay. That we can
• 20:35
  implement here. Right. Um, do you— I— one of my favorite
• 20:39
  auctions that you guys have is when they, they, the,
• 20:42
  um, player and their wives make a basket. Yes. That's,
• 20:45
  that's our favorite things basket. Yeah. Yeah. It's a ton of fun. So it's usually
• 20:49
  around the holidays and their family comes together with their
• 20:53
  favorite things. Yeah. And we auction it off at a game and all of those
• 20:56
  proceeds go towards the Lady Jacket Fund, which then
• 21:00
  the Lady Jackets decide where they want to put the funds towards,
• 21:04
  and they have the dollars to be able to do it. So this year is
• 21:06
  the hair salon, which we're super stoked about, right? So we're
• 21:10
  gonna completely remodel that. And, you know, if you could imagine your child
• 21:14
  is at Nationwide Children's, they're over— they've been there, maybe you thought you
• 21:18
  were gonna be there for a day, you know, be there for a month,
• 21:20
  you're at the Ronald McDonald House. So to be able to one, of course,
• 21:24
  take care of the child, but two, like a parent, to be able to get
• 21:26
  your hair washed, cut, like it's huge. And, um, we're just super stoked to
• 21:31
  be a part of it. That's cool. Do you have, uh, former players come back
• 21:34
  and, and we do? Mr. Nash. Okay.
• 21:37
  Yeah, we love Mr. Nash. Um, he loves when I call him.
• 21:40
  He's thrilled. Um, no, he's awesome. We have,
• 21:43
  you know, several players that have decided to make Columbus home. Yeah, it's a special
• 21:47
  place to be. It's a really great city to be in.
• 21:51
  I always say there's like so much opportunity, like the
• 21:54
  sky's the limit for this city. And so players come back, and then when they
• 21:58
  do, they, um, they of course help out when they can.
• 22:02
  Um, Cam Atkinson made an appearance for us on behalf of military
• 22:06
  members this year. We got to go to MEPS, which was awesome. Um, he was
• 22:09
  lovely. And of course, like, this was my first time getting to meet him because
• 22:13
  I was new to the club, but Super charismatic guy.
• 22:16
  Military is special to him and he made a personal donation.
• 22:20
  So yeah, getting to work with the guys, like present,
• 22:25
  past, always a good time. Gotcha. So do
• 22:30
  you have a yearly goal as far as like dollars raised?
• 22:33
  Is there a number that you guys— Yeah, we always have like a KPI,
• 22:36
  right? Like, and where I
• 22:39
  have a real So when I took the job, it's always very daunting.
• 22:43
  People are like, what are you gonna do? What's like the next 3 to 5
• 22:46
  years? And you're like, oh, just let me like find my way around the arena.
• 22:49
  But, you know, as Columbus continues to grow and
• 22:53
  we consider that there's going to be other opportunities to be able to
• 22:57
  get out in the community and help. And when we look at our 4 pillars
• 23:01
  and we think about expanding those 4 pillars,
• 23:04
  we have to be able to raise more dollars in order to give them out.
• 23:08
  And so we really do have some pretty aggressive fundraising goals
• 23:12
  for this season, and I'm excited because our theme
• 23:15
  is no more excuses. Okay, doing it. All right,
• 23:19
  we're gonna change our foundation footprint on game day,
• 23:22
  which I'm really looking forward to— redesigning our kiosk,
• 23:25
  redesigning— like, just bring a little bit
• 23:28
  more energy and passion, be able to tell our
• 23:32
  story with our 50/50 50 and our volunteers and
• 23:36
  being able to, you know, from the moment we're selecting these groups to the
• 23:40
  moment they're selling on game day, like every interaction with them to be able to
• 23:44
  show them our enthusiasm for them, their enthusiasm
• 23:48
  for us will then translate to our 5th line and be able to tell the
• 23:51
  story a little bit better. Yeah, the people that go around for the 50/50,
• 23:54
  they do a great job. They talk to everybody. Are you hockey groups? They're not
• 23:58
  playing around because they know And they know the importance of the more dollars that
• 24:02
  we raise, the more money that they will be able to receive. And so that's
• 24:05
  really just like a personal moment for me. And then also, you know,
• 24:09
  with our board, it's something that's really important
• 24:12
  for them. We, of course, have fundraising
• 24:16
  goals every single year. We want to continue to grow,
• 24:19
  but we want to be intentional with the pillars and the growth of the community
• 24:23
  and where we need to see it. And so when we receive the grants each
• 24:27
  year, we have about a month of a grant cycle,
• 24:31
  and nonprofits reach out to us and like incredibly worthy
• 24:35
  causes and so many things that I'm like,
• 24:38
  all I want to do is give money out, but I only have so much,
• 24:41
  um, and we need to be within the pillars. But that's one of my really
• 24:45
  big goals, is to be able to expand our foundation footprint and do that through
• 24:49
  different ways. Is there a section that
• 24:54
  sells food that volunteers go in? We do have volunteer opportunities,
• 24:57
  yes. And then there is a roundup if you want to round up at
• 25:02
  our Blue Line store. That's another way to be able to contribute. Right.
• 25:05
  Okay. And then you can always donate online. Do you have a— you can always
• 25:08
  donate online. Yes, we do. Okay. Is it connected to the
• 25:12
  main site, the jacket site? Okay. Under our foundation,
• 25:16
  under community. Click that, there's a dropdown, you can go right there. Okay.
• 25:19
  Donate. Um, final question. You were just talking about the next 3 to
• 25:23
  5 years. Do you see a change or a different direction or
• 25:27
  anything that you're trying to add? I know you're saying different fundraising goals
• 25:30
  and stuff like that. You know, it's so exciting and I am
• 25:36
  like, you know, it's so— we're hiring a new mascot performer and
• 25:40
  I'm like so excited and passionate because we're that program can go and where we
• 25:44
  can grow that and contribute to the foundation, right? If it's a Stinger 5K
• 25:49
  and then we're gonna— or if it's merch that's specifically, you know,
• 25:52
  there's just so much opportunity. And so I think just my goal is
• 25:56
  to continue to be enthusiastic and passionate about our
• 26:00
  4 causes— but excuse me, about our 4 pillars— to continue to bring that
• 26:03
  energy in any situation that I'm at. If it's an appearance with
• 26:07
  the players, if it's speaking with you, if it's, you know,
• 26:11
  at all of our very favorite luncheon moments where we get to go,
• 26:14
  but just in meeting like my fellow community heroes. Like,
• 26:17
  that's truly my goal is I want people to remember
• 26:21
  the Blue Jackets as a group of, first of all, very talented hockey
• 26:26
  people. Right, for sure. And we are winners and get ready, hold on
• 26:29
  tight. That's right. But then second, that everyone you interact with and like, we will
• 26:33
  make the world a better place. We're gonna make Central Ohio better and that's our
• 26:37
  goal. And everyone in this building is under the same goal. Like we're
• 26:41
  all trying our very best and we're doing it. And so hopefully
• 26:45
  that's the memory or the thought you have after you interact with
• 26:48
  me or any of my teammates or any of our foundation or community impact
• 26:53
  humans. Like we're all just doing the most and we're excited
• 26:56
  to see what's next. That's why I created this, just to bring this to
• 27:00
  light because I mean, you guys are all so passionate
• 27:04
  passionate about what you're doing. Yeah. And it's, it's just very inspiring. So, so I
• 27:07
  love it. So thank you for taking the time. Thank you for coming out
• 27:11
  and meeting with us. So if anything we can do in the future,
• 27:15
  let me know. And that concludes our episode. Thank you for
• 27:19
  tuning in and tune in next time where I'll bring you another amazing foundation doing
• 27:23
  amazing work. And remember, show your good side out to everyone.