Dearborn Firefighters to Hold 'Hockey Fights Cancer Night'

The Dearborn Firefighters Hockey Team will be taking on the Western Wayne Fire Hockey Club Feb. 9, for Dearborn's first ever "Hockey Fights Cancer Night."

The charity game, organized by Dearborn Firefighter Mike Mattern, will help raise money for the Josephine Ford Cancer Institute and Be the Match, a nonprofit that matches donors with blood cancer patients who need a bone marrow transplant to survive.

All funds raised will be split equally between the Cancer Institute and Be the Match.

After his father was diagnosed with Leukemia last August, Mattern developed a special connection with the doctors and staff at the Cancer Institute and Be the Match. In fact, thanks to the Josephine Ford Cancer Institute and the national bone marrow registry, his father was able to quickly find a donor for a stem cell transplant and his cancer is now in remission, Mattern said.

"The people downtown at the cancer center were amazing," he said. "They’re pretty much like family to us now." 

Not only will the game help raise money for the Cancer Institute and Be the Match, but there will also be an opportunity for attendees to sign up for the national bone marrow registry by submitting to a painless cheek swab.

"I don’t care if we sign up four people," Mattern said. "That could be four more people who get a transplant and it saves their life like it did for us."

The event will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Dearborn Ice Skating Center, located at 14900 Ford Rd. The puck will drop at 4:30 p.m., and a monetary donation will be accepted for admission into the event.  

There will also be a 50/50 raffle, as well as other raffles for many prizes like: 

• Multiple ticket packs to the Red Wings game against the Montreal Canadians
• Signed pucks from Detroit Red Wings Henrick Zetterberg and Tomas Tatar
• 32-inch flat screen HDTV
• Pistons tickets with a VIP parking pass for the game
• Gift certificates from Elmhurst Tap Room and from local Massage Therapist Karen Goff
• Signed Tomas Tatar game-used stick from the Detroit Red Wings game against the New York Rangers on their Hockey Fights Cancer Night. 

At the end of the second period, all past and present cancer patients, survivors, and their families will be honored in a small ceremony. 

“The people who are current cancer patients and survivors are the real VIPs of this game and will be honored as they should be as they fight this disease day in and day out," Mattern said. "They are really our heroes.”

Those unable to attend the event can still donate to the Cancer Institute or Be the Match by going to www.tinyurl.com/dearbornice. 

For more information about the event, contact Tarita Gibson at (313) 833-2624.