A few weeks ago I put up a post called "Sierra Family Needs Our Help".

For those that don't recall, the Sierra family's house was struck by lightning and it destroyed everything.

Thankfully the family was not home and nobody was hurt.

Unfortunately they lost everything and like any family put in this situation, could use any support that was available.

Angelo Seirra plays for The Garage Bar team in the Chiller Adult Hockey League.  He is an avid Ohio State Hockey and Hockey Beats Down cancer supporter.  The goal of that post was to help he and his family out in anyway we could.

I'll let Angelo say the rest:

I want to thank you for the call for support and the unbelievable response that came our way.  My family is very grateful for all of the donated items, especially the boys.  We have been able to use the items and gifts cards to furnish the rental house we are in and make sure my boys had clothes for school.  I cannot believe the outpouring of support that was shown.  Big thanks to you and to the hockey community at large, everyone really "carried the flag" for the Serra family!

On behalf of Light the Lamp I would also like to thank anyone out there who helped lend a helping hand in the Sierra's family time of need.

The hockey community will never cease to amaze me!

-LTL

HITSforHOCKEY.COM

LighttheLamp.com has and will always be for fans of hockey and the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Chances are if you read this blog you are just as passionate of a fan as we are.  We love the game and we love our Blue Jackets.

LighttheLamp.com has been in existence now since 2007.  The only money made off the blog has gone directly back into it with the purchase of such things like the LighttheLamp.com and .net domain names as well as domain registration costs.

This blog has never been about making money.  It has always been and will continue to be about sharing in the excitement of having a professional National Hockey League team that we can call our own right here in Columbus Ohio.

As you can see LighttheLamp.com has grown since those Google blogger days.  It has now moved over to the Bloguin.com family of blogs and with that comes a cleaner and more professional site as well as a share in advertising revenue that is driven by the number of hits this sites receives.

To that end it, was decided that any money that is generated off this blog (minus domain and tax costs) will be donated in support of grass roots hockey programs in Columbus and the surrounding areas.

The program name is called "Hits for Hockey".

Basically, the idea is the more hits this blog generates the more money that will be raised and donated to these grass roots hockey programs/causes.

Now, unfortunately, we are not talking about a lot of money here folks but it's something.  In fact there is really no way to know how much or how quickly we can raise an amount that can make a difference.  Here's the cool thing though, if we can help get one more kid on skates we will have all done our part.

As you can see there is a module that can be found on the right hand side of this blog that will track the money raised thus far. That money will stay in a paypal account. The tentative plan is that once we hit a certain limit (say $1000) we'll solicit suggestions from readers for programs/causes to donate this money to.  From there we'll evaluate who needs the money the most and we'll cut a check.

It's as simple as that!

Okay now the boring part -- the ground rules!

1. Please do not continously hit refresh and manufacture hits. This is extremely important.  The advertisers who pay Bloguin.com will quickly identity those as spam and pull the plug on this site.

In short.....manufactured hits = no dough!

Just click and read like you normally would do.

2. The money will be donated to youth hockey programs in or around Columbus only.  Examples: ice time, tournament fees, jerseys, equipment, etc.

3. Feedback from the readers and writers of this blog will be solicited for donation targets but ultimately someone will have to make the final call on where the dough goes so that will fall to LTL.

4. We live in a skeptical society so I want to personally assure the readers of this blog this isn't a scam.  Heck, I'm not clever enough to scam and too passionate about this cause not to be sincere.  All money raised and donated will be fully documented on this blog.

The moment this program changes I'll make that informaiton immediately available.

As always, I can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for any questions about this program or anything else related to the blog.

-LTL

I just received this email and was asked if I would share here which of course I'll do anything I can to help:

Last Wednesday Angelo Serra’s, (a player on the Garage Bar and previously the Herd), house was struck by lightning and destroyed everything.  Luckily Angelo and his family were not at home, and no one was hurt.

Angelo, Julie, Giovanni, and Dominic are moving into an unfurnished rental house until their house can be re-built.  A group associated with Hilliard Soccer is gathering items for the family.  If you have any furniture or items below you can deliver them directly to the Hilliard Soccer Complex on Scioto Darby the rest of this week and Mon thru Wed next week from 6:00 to 8:00 pm (see Carol). 

Since they lost everything they need everything.

Furniture
Towels & Washcloths
Bed Linens - Queen & Twin
Tableware – dishes, glassware, flatware
Cookware/Bakeware
Gift Cards (Target?Kroger/Giant Eagle/Kohls)

Appreciate your support of a fellow hockey guy in their time of need.

Go Team,
Shad

I do not know Angelo personally but I'm told he's one of those guys that you just can't help but like and the same goes for his family.  He is also an avid supporter of the Ohio State hockey team and and avid backer of Hockey Beats Down Cancer.

If you cannot make it over to the Hilliard Soccer Complex checks or gift cards can be mailed to:

Shad Phillips
4333 Reed Rd
Columbus, OH 43220

Shad is the Garage Bar Team captain which I as mentioned earlier is Angelo's CAHL team.

It's time to rally Columbus and support one of our own adult hockey players!!  If you have the means I'm sure Angelo and his family would appreciate even the smallest of donations.

To show LTL puts his $$ where his mouth is Hits for Hockey will be making a $25 donation to help out Angelo Serra and his family in their time of need.

Every little bit counts.

Thanks to Tom Wright for bringing this to my attention.

-LTL

Just under a month ago I posted about a boy who was in need of some hockey gear as his family was not able to afford it.  I titled the post "A Call For Hockey Help!".

I'm here to tell you now that some good folks of Columbus have answered that call!!!

Thanks to the tremendous help of Thom Wright of Hockey Beats Down, a bunch of players from the Rusty Pucks (pictured below in pink), NetJets and Fireballs CAHL teams as well as some contributions from your favorite bloggers here we were not only able to donate a bunch of new and used equipment to get the young boy named Dmitri on his skates but we also raised and donated $160 dollars to help Dmitri and his family purchase the missing pieces.

I'm here to tell you it was quite a scene this past Saturday at the Easton Chiller.  It was one of those moments that made us all feel good inside and as Thom so eloquently put it - how cool was it to see Dmitri's mom tear up..... for all the right reasons?!

Again I want to thank everyone who donated some equipment and money to help launch Dmitri's hockey career.  This is the exact kind of thing I envisioned when the Hits For Hockey program was launched and this is a scene I hope to repeat more often than not in the future.

Good luck Dmitri!!

-LTL