Blues establish fund to assist gameday employees

ST. LOUIS — With sporting events being postponed and cancelled en masse due to the coronavirus pandemic over the past week, plenty of part-time and freelance employees have been impacted financially. With the rest of the season in question, the St. Louis Blues are stepping up to help affected workers.

The Blues announced Monday that they are creating the Blues Employee Assistance Fund to lessen the financial hardship being experienced by gameday workers at Enterprise Center due to the pause in the National Hockey League season caused by COVID‑19.

The fund will provide support to several hundred employees who report directly to and are paid by the Blues organization on game nights. The fund will be administered by the Blues for Kids charitable foundation.

Blues ownership led by Tom Stillman, Blues players led by captain Alex Pietrangelo, and local donors led by a $100,000 donation from Blues season ticket holder Andy Frisella worked together late last week and over the weekend to establish the fund.

All St. Louis Blues players made a personal donation to the Blues Employee Assistance Fund. Frisella is a longtime Blues fan and local entrepreneur.

In addition to administering the fund, Blues for Kids has authorized a sizable donation to the cause from proceeds generated by the 50-50 raffle at each Blues home game. This means that Blues fans — through buying 50-50 tickets — are also assisting those who make their experience at Enterprise Center the best in the NHL.