Gaudreau Family 5K raises more than $500,000 for playground - ESPN

PHILADELPHIA — The first 5K held in the memory of John and Matthew Gaudreau helped raise more than $500,000, enough to break ground later this year on an accessible playground at the special education school where the hockey players' mother works.

Thousands attended the Gaudreau Family 5K Walk/Run and Family Day in May at Washington Lake Park in southern New Jersey, a place John and Matthew went hundreds of times as kids and around the corner from Hollydell Ice Arena, where they started playing hockey. The 5K drew more than 1,100 participants in the walk, along with more than 1,100 virtually in the U.S., Canada and around the world.

From money raised in the walk, along with contributions made in memory of John and Matt, the financial goal was met for the planned accessible playground at Archbishop Damiano School, where Jane Gaudreau and her daughter Kristen work. It was a cause John and Matthew had begun to champion in honor of their grandmother Marie, who spent 44 years at the school and died in 2023.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for late August/early September, with Oct. 4 tentatively set for the start of a community build.

After a brief scare of a tornado watch the night before, the 5K went off without a hitch.

«Because of the rain, we had so many people we thought might not show up,» Jane Gaudreau said. «But I felt like it was such a great turnout. So many people asked us if we're going to do it again next year. It just such an outpouring of love and care, so much for the boys in our family.»

To answer the question, yes: The next Gaudreau Family 5K Walk is tentatively scheduled for May 16, 2026.

The Gaudreau brothers — John played 10 full seasons in the NHL with Calgary and Columbus — were killed last August on the