Boy’s Great Tagline Helps Raise Thousands For Underprivileged Kids To Afford Hockey

Boy’s Great Tagline Helps Raise Thousands For Underprivileged Kids To Afford Hockey

A hockey-loving boy from a hockey-loving family is selling special hockey merch to help other hockey lovers—and he’s loving it.

His family took a childhood utterance, as genius as it was random, and spun it into a line of merchandise with the proceeds going to charities that pay for gear, rink time, and team fees for kids who want to play hockey but whose families can’t afford the expense.

He’s got a special fundraiser going at the moment specifically for the children of veterans, in honor of Veteran’s Day.

8-year-old Luke Grahame is the son of John Grahame, a goaltender who played for the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. John’s father was also goaltender, who also played for the Boston Bruins, as well as the Los Angeles Kings and Quebec Nordiques during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

John’s brother, Luke’s uncle, is a scout for the Colorado Avalanche. John and his mother, Charlotte who also worked for the Avalanche, became the first mother-son duo to have both of their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, which John won as a goalie with the Lightning in 2004.

Luke’s two older brothers both play, and Luke loved going to watch their games before he was old enough to hit the ice. But eventually, eagerness and frustration culminated in a now-famous line.

“I’m tired of just being a rink dude,” he said in frustration. That day, the Rink Dude brand was born.

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A post shared by Rink Dude (@rinkdude)

“We thought maybe we could print a hat that said ‘Rink Dude’ just for him,” his mother, Niki Grahame, told CBS News Colorado. “Then we thought, what if he sold a few and helped other kids who want to play hockey but can’t afford it?”

That’s exactly what happened, and it was a huge success. Hockey is the most expensive youth sport, and nonprofits like Hockey Unlimited help underprivileged children bridge the financial gap made up by gear and fees to use ice rinks for training and pick-up games.

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Rink Dude hats, shirts, and other merch, featuring a cartoonized Luke Grahame flexing his bicep, sometimes make thousands of dollars in a week of sales, and each purchase comes with donation cards to Hockey Unlimited or other nonprofits.

For Veterans Day, Luke focused on helping military families by channeling money to United Heroes League, a nonprofit that keeps military kids active by providing gear, camps, grants and special experiences.

“Our goal is $5,000 to raise for kids of veterans,” Luke said, adding “veterans are heroes.”

Mrs. Grahame wasn’t surprised, saying “he gets to feel the joy of helping others while doing something he loves.”

WATCH the story below from CBS News…