Powell River Kings graduate Ethan Cox did not have the chance to make an impact on the NCAA Tournament, but he has been giving back to the community at Colgate University like no other college hockey player in the nation. As a result of his tireless efforts, the NCAA awarded Cox with the 2010 Hockey Humanitarian Award, which was presented to the Richmond, B.C. native on Friday night before Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion received his hardware as the Hobey Baker Award winner.
“I don’t know how to feel,” says Cox. “It’s almost surreal. I’m excited but my real happiness comes in knowing what the Award will do for future recipients and for Colgate.”
Cox tributes his relentless humanitarian efforts to his parents who had a big influence on the incredible person he is.
“My parents were both teachers and they instilled in me the notion of giving back ever since my brother and I were children,” he says. “They told me to always be thankful and the best way to express that is to give back to those less fortunate than I am.”
His commitment to bettering the community around him really began during his time in the British Columbia Hockey League with the Kings. Cox and his teammates put together a local radio show in Powell River — with music and banter — to get the word out about their various community projects.
“It was all about fun, but we used the show as a means of promoting what we’d be doing in the community, like raising money for various causes, visiting schools and running youth clinics,” Cox remembers. “I took a lot of those ideas with me when I went to Colgate. I realized that with committed individuals coming together and the blessing of my coach, we could have a positive influence on both the college, Hamilton and surrounding communities.”
In his four years at Colgate, Cox has received considerable recognition for his leadership efforts. One of his first and biggest projects was a holiday food drive, which has become a tradition. During the 2009 holiday season, over 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food items were donated. In addition to donating food to these families, Cox has also organized holiday toy drives in each of the last four years through the Interfaith Holiday Project.
In 2008, Cox helped raise $25,000 for the American Cancer Society. Moreover, due to Cox’s leadership and initiative, the overall volunteer activity of all of Colgate’s sports teams has risen sharply. He worked with the football team to successfully encourage students campus-wide to be tested for possible bone marrow matches and also played a vital role in helping Colgate’s women’s soccer team raise funds for both a player’s cancer treatment and the American Cancer Society.
Overall, he and his fellow athletes have raised over $14,000 in cash and donated items for various local and national charities.
“There’s such a need,” Cox says. “The number of families under the poverty line in Madison County is very high.”
First awarded in 1996, the Hockey Humanitarian Award is given annually to the college player who most personifies true community spirit by selflessly giving time, leadership and commitment to charitable causes with notable success. The candidates are not just outstanding athletes, but they are individuals many people look up to in their community.
“The best part about Ethan’s involvement is that he doesn’t do it for the recognition but rather because he believes it is the right thing to do,” says Raiders head coach Don Vaughan. “He sees an area where help is needed, formulates a plan and executes. He is a very special person and we are lucky to have had him as part of our team.”
