ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades are proud to announce that the team donated a total of $214,560 in cash, goods, and services to local charities during the 2016-17 season.

The Everblades also donated nearly 350 gift packs to local charities and non-profit organizations which were utilized for raffles and auctions which helped raise additional funds.

The Blades Backers program which is underwritten by 17 local sponsors, contributed $66,000 to provide tickets to over 6,600 underprivileged children and their families.

In November, the team generated $21,350 for the National Coalition for Patriots, a national organization based in Southwest Florida.  The organization provides direct support to our military veterans.

In December, the team collected more than 7,000 teddy bears for the seventh consecutive season in the annual IBERIABANK Teddy Bear Toss game. The teddy bears and stuffed animals were distributed to local children’s charities for the holidays.  The entire Everblades team personally delivered a portion of the teddy bears to the patients at the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida located in Fort Myers.

In February, a total of $14,200 was raised during the annual Pink in the Rink promotion which gives back to local cancer charities. An additional $21,150 was raised for the Passion Foundation which is a local organization that builds shade structures at local schools to significantly reduce the amount of sun exposure to children.

Throughout the season, Everblades players could be found at local schools speaking to students, bowling with kids, assisting in youth hockey practices at Naples Roller Hockey, and local businesses. Forward Mike Aviani and defenseman Josh Wesley (pictured below) were the recipients of the team’s Piper Buckley Community Service Award, presented by the Hyatt Place at Coconut Point.

“We are proud of our community efforts during this past season," said Everblades President of Sales & Marketing Chris Palin. “We will remain committed to giving back to the community that has supported us over the past 19 years. I would like to thank all of our sponsors that teamed up with us for their generous donations throughout the year.”

Last week, the ECHL announced that its 27 member teams raised more than $3.8 million to charitable and non-profit organizations during the 2016-17 season.----2017-18 Ticket Packages Now Available!Everblades ticket packages are now on sale for the 20th season of Everblades hockey in 2017-18. We offer full season and flexible partial plans that will best fit your schedule and budget! To view pricing and benefits of all available tickets packages CLICK HERE

For more information call 239-948-7825, or stop by the Everblades offices at Germain Arena Monday thru Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Everblades open the 2017-18 season at home on Friday, October 13 against the Atlanta Gladiators!

This release courtesy of Fort Myers Technical College & Cape Coral Technical College

The Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliateof the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes###