MINNEAPOLIS — Junior defenseman
Hank Kempf is one of 18 nominees for the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award, as announced by the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation on Wednesday afternoon.
The award, which is celebrating its 29th season, is presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team, but also to the community at-large through leadership in volunteerism.
Finalists for the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award will be announced in February, while the recipient of the 2024 award will be announced on Friday, April 12 during the weekend of the NCAA Men's Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.
This year, Kempf is one of five nominees from ECAC Hockey, joining Quinnipiac's Jayden Lee, Princeton's Kate Monihan, Colgate's Danielle Serdachny, and RPI's Nick Strom.
"Hank is an impressive young man,"
Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey stated. "Getting a chance to watch how engaged he was with our friends in Don Juan in the Dominican Republic, and how he has followed that up with a purpose of helping others deal with adversity, it displays all the characteristics of a nominee for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. Service is a huge part of Cornell hockey, but it has always had meaning and a personal story behind it. His Blocks for Healing fundraiser is an outstanding program for so many reasons."
Kempf's nomination marks the ninth time a Cornell player has been nominated for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, and the first since Morgan Richardson '16 of the women's hockey program in 2015-16. He is the first men's hockey player to be nominated for the award since Andy Iles '14 in 2013-14, and is Cornell's first non-senior nominee for the award, as all previous eight Big Red players were in their senior seasons.
Sam Paolini '03 is the lone Cornell player to win the Hockey Humanitarian Award, receiving the honor at the 2003 Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y., in which the Big Red played in.
While a member of the Big Red, Kempf has been active within the Cornell and Ithaca communities, aiding a number of non-for-profit organizations that help a diverse array of community members. His efforts have included supporting elementary school children, children with disabilities, and local fundraisers for charities raising funds for cancer research.
He has been involved with the Portal de Belen Foundation, which is a service trip that the Cornell men's hockey team takes to the Dominican Republic. The Portal de Belen Foundation, which was founded in 2001, helps the poor and needy on the Caribbean island. It has since expanded to help children of the poorest of poor in the Dominican Republic improve their quality of life through sustenance and education.
This past summer, Kempf participated and led the Cornell men's hockey service trip to Monte Plata in the Dominican Republic, where the group spent time building a community service center, distributed clothing, shoes, and food to those in need, and providing computer and school supplies to local schools, and participating in other acts of service. The group also provided sports equipment to the local schools and played baseball nightly with the kids of the community while on the service trip. While on the trip, members of the Cornell hockey program formed lasting relationships with members of the community from the Don Juan Church and nearby schools.
Locally, Kempf has been involved with the Racker Center, which has provided strength-based support for individuals with disabilities and their families. Racker envisions a world where all people know they belong. The Cornell men's hockey team's relationship with the Racker Center and its site for early childhood services. Kempf has actively engaged with, and has been able to get to know, children and learn many of the staff members at the organization.
Kempf has also been involved with the Newfield Schools Mentor Program, where he has been active with the children at the Newfield Schools by reading to them, and has hosted large groups at Lynah Rink and on the Cornell campus, which has included providing tours and skating with the children.
Additionally, Kempf created a fundraiser called "Big Red Blocks for Healing", which raises money for Kesem, an organization that supports children affected by a cancer diagnosis to a parent.
Kesem provides year-round programs and services to support children at no cost for families while also offering a free one-week overnight summer camp for kids ages 6 to 18 who have been impacted by a parent's cancer. The camp provides a fun atmosphere and experiences to help children escape — even for a short time — the challenges of coping with their parent's cancer diagnosis.
Kempf is running the campaign with the help of senior goaltender
Ryan McInchak. The entire Cornell men's hockey coaching staff also aided Kempf and McInchak in organizing the fundraiser.
"The team and I are super excited to get Big Red Blocks for Healing rolling," Kempf stated. "The project does a great job in tying together a big part of our team's identity in blocking shots and sacrificing for each other while raising awareness for such a great cause. We are eager to see how much money we can raise for Kesem this season."
The initial goal for the Big Red Blocks for Healing campaign was to raise $5,000, but as of this past Friday, the fundraiser has exceeded its original plan and has been moved to $10,000.
To join the campaign, you are asked to
join Cornell's team and pledge a determined dollar amount (minimum of $0.10) for each shot Cornell blocks throughout the 2023-24 season. An alternative to the price-per-block, fans are also eligible to make a
one-time donation.
HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD NOMINEES
Sam Anzai (Wisconsin-River Falls), Ryan Bischel (Notre Dame), Kenzie Hauswirth (Ohio State), Ryan Herpy (Albertus Magnus),
Hank Kempf (Cornell), Jayden Lee (Quinnipiac), Kyle Looft (Bemidji State), Dylan Lugris (Penn State), Joe Molenaar (St. Cloud State), Kate Monihan (Princeton), Jack Quinn (Long Island), Danielle Serdachny (Colgate), Hannah Squires (Stonehill), Nick Strom (Rensselaer), Nolan Sullivan (Omaha), Raice Szott (Merrimack), Sarah Thompson (Syracuse), Arnaud Vachon (Augustana).
