HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Huntsville Havoc hockey team toured the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Monday afternoon. The tour is an annual event the team does ahead of their “Melissa George Night” game.
Melissa George Night is a night where fans of the game get a chance to bid on player-worn jerseys, sticks, and pucks for a good cause. All proceeds from the auctioned off items will go towards the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund at Huntsville Hospital.
This year marks the 14th year of the event and more than $650,000 has been raised since its start in 2005.
The Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund was established in memory of Amy and Chris George’s daughter, Melissa. In June 2005, Amy gave birth at 26 weeks to Melissa and Ann Catherine. Melissa died just a few hours after she was born, and Ann Catherine was a patient in the NICU for 68 days. The fund has provided more than $3.3 million since 2005 to purchase equipment for the NICU and to provide support for families of premature infants.
“We just felt like we were in a position to do some good with the experience we had been through and so we decided to start Melissa’s fund. The whole goal is to buy life-saving equipment for the NICU here at Huntsville Hospital,” Amy George said.
The auction will be held this Saturday after the Havoc versus Birmingham game.
The first 1,000 fans who bring an item for the Neonatal ICU parent waiting room will receive a free Melissa George Night T-shirt. Requested items include: individually wrapped snacks, restaurant and gas gift cards, K-cups, journals, coloring books, newborn outfits, receiving blankets.
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