Shoulder Check Initiative

Two young hockey players who have been both teammates and opponents have taken the initiative to honor a friend and trying to convert this tragedy into an important lesson, not just for players, but all of us. Reid Pehrkon and Dillon Moneypenny are sponsoring a dinner, before their rivalry game to share a message for the competitors the story of their friend’s sad passing.

Asked to write something for BearSportsNews, Reid wrote the below poignant paragraph. Donations would be appropriate. Moves as I was by this lesson, I made a donation.

Reid Pehrkon

I’m writing explain about the Shoulder Check initiative and my part in all of it. I was lucky enough to be an ice hockey teammate with Hayden Thorsen for 3 years.  Spending many weekends on the road and also at the Thorsen residence with Hayden, teammates become like brothers. Unfortunately, Hayden took his own life in the Spring of 2022.  His amazing parents have turned this tragedy into something positive by building the HT40 Foundation and Shoulder Check Initiative. The Shoulder Check initiative aims to remind us of all to be kind to one another and look out for one another because you never know how someone is doing until you ask them, and that’s important, just letting people know you are there for them and knowing they are there for you. Dillon Moneypenny, a Georgetown Prep student and hockey player, also had a strong connection with Hayden as their families were lifelong friends. Dillion and I thought the Landon-Prep hockey game would be a perfect way for us to bring this important message to our teammates and school communities and we are excited about the joint team dinner and game this week. If you have any questions, you can ask me or visit www.shouldercheck.org for more information on the Shoulder Check.

To Donate and help spread this important message:  ​Shoulder Check is an #HT40 Foundation initiative | Secure Donation (cbo.io)