Monday, December 2, 2024
Sports can provide life-changing opportunities for young athletes, opening doors for them that may otherwise be closed. The 43 Oak Foundation, a charity that helps develop underprivileged and minority youth through hockey, hosted its third annual 3 Keys Cup charity hockey tournament at Elmont’s UBS Arena last week to help support the organization’s mission.
The tournament, on Oct. 24, raised more than $180,000 thanks to nine financial institutions that took part — UBS, BlackRock, PIMCO, JP Morgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton, MFS Investments, and a joint team comprising Lord Abbett, PGIM and First Eagle.
“They were all excited to be asked back and play the tournament,” Greg Toskos, UBS’s head of national sales, said of the eight teams, put together by the financial institutions, which helped raise roughly $171,000 for last year’s tournament. The 3 Keys Cup tournament is now the largest source of fundraising revenue for the organization.
Consistency in hosting hockey clinics for local youth is something Toskos believes makes UBS and the Islanders’ partnership with 43 Oak Foundation work best.
As head coach of the hockey team Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey, his alma mater, often finds himself rinkside. Whether he’s coaching, cheering on his kids or helping out with clinics, he said, athletes from other teams have recognized him from 43 Oak Foundation clinics no matter the location.
“That becomes more personal,” Toskos said. “So it’s special and it’s great that we’re raising money for the foundation. But it becomes even more of a personal touch when kids recognize some of the things that we’re doing in order to play at some of the facilities that we’re at.”
Bill Carroll, head of sales and development at UBS, coached Toskos at Don Bosco Prep from 1990 to 1994. It was always evident, Carroll said, that Toskos had an altruistic nature.
“I think he has translated that into giving back through the opportunities that UBS Arena gives him, certainly,” Carroll said. “But 43 Oak would not be anywhere near what it is without his leadership.”
Sean Grevy created the foundation in 2017, after coaching a 14-and-under hockey travel team from 2014 to 2016.
“Our goal … is to promote hockey within diverse communities and help underprivileged kids be able to play the sport at a tier-one level so that they can ultimately further their education through the sport of hockey,” Grevy said.
The foundation’s mission goes beyond the ice: It helps athletes through mentoring, resumé writing classes, leadership training, financial literacy training and more. The organization grew from Grevy’s helping a handful of kids get to and from hockey practice in the South Bronx, to its work now, helping 170 families across the country participate in the sport.
“Fortunately, this partnership has allowed us years to get better,” Grevy said of the foundation’s relationship with the Islanders and UBS. “And we’re light-years ahead of when I started this.”
He is proud of the growth he has seen in the foundation’s ability to reach young athletes throughout the U.S.
“When I used to run my practices, not only did I know all of the kids, I knew them all incredibly personally,” Grevy said. “Now I go out for these skates, and I love … that I get out there and there are kids that I don’t know. It’s a cool thing to get to a point where you have that many kids in your program.”
All of those kids, he said, have access to vital athletic and educational resources thanks to fundraising events like the 3 Keys Cup.
“When you see all of these people who came out to support this mission, that was literally a dream for me 10 years ago — I didn’t think anybody was listening,” Grevy said. “And now I’m reminded every day that a lot of people are listening, and a lot of people are taking action. Today is a real testament to taking action.”
To learn more about 43 Oak Foundation, go to 43OakFoundation.org.
