Holt residents Heather Ballard and Hudson Ballard, 1, are visited by Detroit Red Wings hockey players Drew Miller, right, and Justin Abdelkader on Thursday morning at Sparrow Hospital. The players donated more than $22,000 to the hospital from Miller’s charity called Spartan Buddies.
All it takes to brighten a day in the children’s intensive care unit at Sparrow Hospital is a visit from some friends.
Although Detroit Red Wing forwards and former Spartans Drew Miller and Justin Abdelkader visited the hospital to present a check from Miller’s Spartan Buddies foundation as professional athletes, they know their company is much more than that to the children in the hospital.
“You do it because you want to make a difference in these kids’ lives,” Miller said. “There were times in college we spent a half-hour to an hour with kids we knew because they were here so much, and you develop these relationships and you’re making a difference in their day because you’re taking them away from the experience they’re in. For a lot of them it’s a scary, unknown experience.”
Miller’s career at MSU from 2003-06 saw the university encourage athletes to be more involved in the community. In return, he started the Spartan Buddies program in 2005 to encourage Spartan athletes, men and women of all sports, to visit children at Sparrow. The foundation still is growing, with the check of the first four years’ proceeds totaling more than $22,000.
“I’m very proud that it has carried on,” Miller said. “We started with a vision, now I’m definitely proud of what we started.”
Abdelkader started his involvement as soon as he stepped foot on campus in 2005. He started his own initiative in Shoot for a Cure in 2008 to aid in the Spartan Buddies fund.
“It’s been raising more and more money; I can’t thank the community enough for the support,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep it growing, because seeing what these kids have to go through each day, it’s just tough to see at such a young age.”
Having a cousin die a few years ago from leukemia really inspired Miller to continue the cause.
“That was tough. You see the kids and you see them on their good days or well enough to see people,” Miller said. “But to see (my cousin) on the days he would struggle and were tough for him, it really hits home that it’s tough to see a young person go through something like that and you want to make a difference however you can.”
Current MSU junior defenseman A.J. Sturges said he followed in his older brother’s footsteps into the foundation. Few opportunities at MSU allow students, not just athletes, such a heartwarming experience, he said.
“The first few times you come, it’s sort of difficult, you don’t really know what to say or know how to act,” Sturges said. “But once you start to know the kids want someone to talk to and to pass the time with, it’s really one of the easiest things you could ever do. It’s probably one of the most gratifying things I’ve done in my time at State.”
The program teaches the student-athletes even the toughest mentality has a soft spot for kids, Sturges said.
“Everybody has the capacity for it, everybody has the ability to connect with kids,” he said. “A lot of people don’t even know it and that’s what’s so good about the program. It gives us the chance to find that in ourselves.”
With many of the children too young to realize the athletes see time in limelight, Abdelkader said that is one of the benefits of the program.
“That’s the priceless part, putting a smile on their face,” he said. “Just hopefully not to have to think about what they’re going through, just to hangout and be a kid, take them away from the hospital-type feel and hangout. We have a lot of good memories and built a lot of good memories.”
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