Hockey Without Barriers Game
The annual Hockey Without Barriers night, sponsored by the Grand Rapids Griffins, the top farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, saw special participation by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services.The night included no goal horn, decreased microphone volume, decreased music volume, no strobe lights, and, of special interest to D&HHS and the people it serves, ASL interpretation as picture in picture on the big screen inside of Van Andel Arena, the Griffins’ home rink.D&HHS community and partnerships manager Erica Chapin said the Griffins reached out last fall to see if D&HHS was interested in participating, and it was an easy “yes” on the organization’s part.“This game has historically been a sensory-friendly game to target those in the community who want to enjoy a game but find the typical game environment overwhelming because of the high sensory stimulation,” she said. “They wanted to continue to expand the audience for this game night and reached out to us to see how the Deaf community could be involved.”
D&HHS staff then worked with the Griffins team to organize the interpreters for the game and also sold tickets to D&HHS supporters with a portion of each ticket sale going to D&HHS programming. And D&HHS was the receiving charity for that game’s Throw for Dough activity with Chapin, executive director Deb Atwood and staff accountant Denise Stephenson all working at tables in the arena concourse and selling the foam pucks used in the contest.And while D&HHS benefitted, so too did the people the org serves.“Partnering for this game also benefited our community,” Atwood said. “It was an opportunity to attend a game where the interpreter was on the big screen. It is always important to have that representation and access, and we are happy to see the Griffins working toward that.”
Almost 100 tickets were sold to D&HHS supporters, including, Chapin added, some within the Deaf community, some typical supporters and some new names.Chapin said that while the event was a big success, the D&HHS team also has shared some good feedback for the Griffins.“There are ways that we can continue to improve,” she said. “We would like to see the interpreter with a better background to increase visibility and clarity. Additionally, we hope to see the interpreter on the screen more often. We are working with the Griffins to continue to improve the experience for future opportunities. It was great working with the Griffins, and we hope we can continue to be partners in the future. We are always open to partnerships that can expand opportunities for our West Michigan Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing communities.”D&HHS also is selling tickets for the Saturday, March 16 game (the annual Star Wars Night) with a portion of each $22 ticket benefitting the org’s programming.
See https://deafhhs.org/griffins/ to buy tickets.