It has been almost 1 1/2 years since we first launched this website and it’s so hard to believe that we have not written since our first blog. I hope to change this fact.

Since Ryan’s final gift of giving just before his death, close to $50,000 has been raised in his honor. There have been two Cut-a-Thons at Academy di Capelli in Wallingford; we participated in the Travelers Championship Birdies for Charity, and Beth Israel Synagogue in Wallingford hosted the 5th Ryan C. Gordon Memorial Kiddush Cup Golf Tournament this past June. The tournament alone has brought in over $44,000 in 5 years. The balance of our dollars has come from private donations.

For the past 3 years, the Hartford Wolf Pack has held the 1st of their three pre-season exhibition games at Trinity’s Koeppel Center. In lieu of admission, attendees made donations to the Ryan Gordon/Hartford Wolf Pack Foundation. Rich Pettit, Koeppel’s manager, includes all income from the concession stand, and this year, Howard and Karen Baldwin added the proceeds from every sale of the CT Whale merchandise sold at the game. Over $3,000 has been raised!

To date, RCG has donated 100% of all money raised for the charities Ryan earmarked for his own donations.

What it comes down to for us is carrying out Ryan’s wish and dream of helping others achieve their dreams – whether it is beating an opponent on the hockey rink, or beating a disease in their body.

This past year, we were able to send another Kingswood-Oxford scholarship winner to Tobati, Paraguay. A high school junior who would have otherwise been unable, traveled in March to this remote village and performed community service with her peers.

And recently, one of our first Ryan Gordon/Hartford Wolf Pack Scholars won his first hockey game as goalie on the East Catholic High School team. Congratulations, Josh!!

After this year’s Kiddush Cup, our friend, Dave Sherwood, came to us with a unique networking idea that he believes will benefit business men and women, consumers and RCG. On Monday, October 25th, we are hosting an Appreciation dinner at The Tradition at Wallingford for RCG’s past supporters who are in the business community and seeking to increase their customer base. Dave, who is a national speaker in his field of home inspection, also presents the marketing strategy of networking at conferences throughout the country. We are so appreciative of his support and his creative mind…and we are looking forward to seeing our golfing friends in a month other than June!

If you are interested in joining us, please email Phyllis at pgordon@snet.net .

And finally, we are in the beginning stages of planning “Let’s Dance for Ryan!”. On Saturday, March 26th, we will be holding our first benefit dance for RCG. The classic rock band, Snake Oil, will be playing for us from 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. in Hamden. We’ll be posting details soon!

Thank you, as always, for your interest in RCG and for taking the time to read this blog!

Warmly,
Phyllis