He shoots, he scores

Robin WyssRobin Wyss turns hockey into charity 

An opportunity to hobnob with celebrities and hockey stars, and doing it in the name of charity. That’s all in a day’s work for Robin Wyss, BA’79, who has been organizing NHL alumni and celebrity hockey games since 1995. The All Stars Group, of which Wyss is a partner, teams former NHL players such as Ron Duguay and Joel Otto with celebrities like Denis Leary, Dave Coulier and Alan Thicke. The famous names mingle to make the teams, but the winners in the end are the various charities they’re playing for.

All of that, and it’s only a sideline for Wyss. His days are actually filled with fundraising for Queen’s Park Healthcare Foundation in New Westminster, BC, which assists the elderly with quality-of-life programs. Wyss says that his two worlds operate totally independent of each other, but that he can sometimes call on the players and celebrities to pitch in for his Queen’s Park charity events.

Fundraising work had a serendipitous start for Wyss, who admits that he “just fell into it through some of the charity work I did.” But adds that it was a natural fit because, “it offered a lot of unique avenues and tapped into numerous skill sets.”

While the Queen’s Park role has him helping communities at home in BC, the All Stars Group of hockey fundraisers takes Wyss around the continent, to locations such as Jackson Hole, Aspen, Sun Valley, LA, Hawaii, Colorado Springs, Whistler, Victoria, Philadelphia, and New York (which was an eight-team tournament hosted for families of 9/11 victims). His fundraisers have also expanded to include golf tournaments and even an afternoon tea.

“Yep, I’ve even organized a tea with cast members from The Young and the Restless,” laughs Wyss about one of his annual events in Vancouver.

By Leslie Strudwick