Among the donations made by the Foundation was a $5 million gift to UPMC Health System to establish the Mario Lemieux Centers for Patient Care and Research in 2001. In 2002, the Lemieux Foundation established an Endowed Chair in Pediatric Oncology Research at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh with a $1 million gift. The MLF’s latest donation was a $3 million gift to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in 2010 to create the Mario Lemieux Center for Blood Cancers at the Hillman Cancer Center.

Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal For much of this series the focus has been on the on ice product and the celebration of past/present Penguins superstars. The last entry in this series will be focusing on the fan relations department and the team’s affect on the community. The Pittsburgh Penguins do a wonderful job with their charity work, social media, and fans reward programs. All of these areas when added together show a franchise which clearly makes an effort towards the fans. The team does not take for granted the fans loyalty, even though the on ice product could attract interest on its own right now.One of the best things that any sports franchise can do is give back to the community with charity. The Penguins do a terrific job of supporting local Pittsburgh charities. The Penguins Foundation hosts a 50/50 raffle at each Penguins home game in which a different local charity is given half of the purse while a lucky fan takes home the rest. Here is a list of all the charities that benefited from this raffle in 2013.One of the biggest ways that the Penguins help out the local community is through the Mario Lemieux Foundation Austin’s Playroom Project : was also started by the Lemieux Foundation as a way to create a comfortable calming environment for families (specifically children) as they try to navigate through various health emergencies at the hospital.Donations to the Mario Lemieux Foundation are the catalyst that makes all the developments and projects possible. In this regard it is not any different than any other charity. However, the Mario Lemieux Foundation is unique in that you can receive some pretty nice Penguin related stuff by donating. The $250 Penguins Charity Prize Bags are offered through the Penguins website and comes equipped with the following items: Duffle Bag, Autographed Puck from a current Penguins player, Mario Lemieux “66” T-shirt, Penguins Baseball Hat, Penguins Yearbook, Penguins Autograph Book, In the Room DVD, Penguins Media GuideMystery Item (ONE of the following): Autographed jersey* from a current Penguins player or Mario Lemieux, Mario Lemieux or Bryan Trottier autographed puck with wooden puck stand and engraved plaque with Hall of Fame induction year, or a Civic Arena OrnamentIf you are going to donate to a great cause, why not get some real nice Penguins related merchandise to go with it?The Penguins are also supporters of the Mighty Penguins. The Mighty Penguins are the local sled hockey organization and the Penguins make ice time available for the team to practice and play at the Consol Energy Center during select times throughout the year. Sometimes the real Penguins show up and skate with the team, surely a thrill for all the players involved.The Penguins also award a Bob Johnson Scholarship each year. The scholarship is worth $5,000 and is awarded to a Western Pennsylvania high school senior for academic excellence, community service and for providing leadership, sportsmanship and a positive attitude as a member of their high school’s hockey program.There is also an Inner-City Sports Scholarship that is awarded each year with $1,500 and a Penguins Alumni Association Scholarship worth $2,000. You can find all the details out about the Penguins scholarships here. An important part of any sports franchise is making their product attractive to the younger fan base. By generating new fans at a young age they are breeding a customer base that will be in place for many years to come.Part of attracting a younger fan base involves the use of social media. Social media is a huge component of sports entertainment in the modern landscape. The Pittsburgh Penguins are well aware of the positive potential that social media can have, and they excel in it with their multiple platforms. The Penguins utilize both Twitter and Facebook on a regular basis as an opportunity to connect with their fan base by providing contests and opportunities to win prizes, as well as providing real time updates about the Penguins. Sam Kasan and Michelle Crechiolo do a terrific job with the @PensInsideScoop twitter account on providing all kinds of real time updates pertaining to the team.Penguins PR lady Jen Bullano ( @PensPRLady ) does an amazing job of getting the Penguin players out into the public spotlight. She is able to balance the amount of requests each player gets and make sure that each player is comfortable with every media obligation. She is no doubt one of Sidney Crosby’s best allies. For a more in depth look at what Bullano does for the Penguins and the fans you can check out an espnW feature story on her here The Penguins have created the first ever fan loyalty system of its kind by introducing the Pens Points Fan Loyalty Program . Fans who attend games, listen/watch games, and purchase merchandise are able to build loyalty points. When fans reach a certain level of points they can be rewarded with things such as a voucher for a pop all the way to concert tickets and game worn jerseys. To get the bigger rewards you have to be a season ticket holder, but it is a nice program and the first of its kind in professional sports.Pens TV is another way that the Penguins give more in depth access to their hockey team. Their ‘In the Room’ series documents the Penguin players behind the scenes in a similar way in which the famed 24/7 hockey series does on HBO. This series does an incredible job of showing the human sides of the players and how life is while playing in the NHL.Another way the Penguins are able to humanize themselves to their fans is via their famed season ticket deliveries. Every year the Penguins send out each one of their players to personally deliver season tickets to lucky fans. It has to be really special when Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin come knocking on your door. It is a terrific idea and has started spreading across to other NHL teams as well.The Penguins also do a nice job with providing special opportunities at the rink. The Penguins Student Rush program is a great way to give younger fans the opportunity to attend games at a reduced rate. Each home game the Penguins set aside a certain amount of tickets (most times 200, sometimes 500) for high school and college students. Any student with a valid school ID can purchase a ticket to the game for the reduced price of $25. I remember personally taking advantage of this opportunity all the way back in the year 2000. One of the biggest nights of the year at the Consol Energy Center, outside of the playoffs, takes place at the last home game on Fan Appreciation Night. This is a night where the Penguins organization goes above and beyond to show its fans a good time. On this night every fan is given a scratch card upon entry into the building and each card is a winner. The big allure of Fan Appreciation Night is the “Shirts Off Our Backs” promotion. Each Penguin player will be paired up with one lucky random selected fan. This is where the player will literally take the jersey off of their back, sign it, and take a photo with that fan. It is one of the best promotions in the game of hockey and you can really see how special it is with the smiles on the fan’s faces.Fan Appreciation Night has been so popular that the Penguins have recently changed it to Fan Appreciation Week. The week includes multiple social media contests, including a Facebook Penguins player lookalike contest.While there are other NHL teams that also do great things like the items mentioned above, these are specifically the things that the Pittsburgh Penguins do for their fans. The Penguins are a great asset to the Pittsburgh area and they have consistently shown that through their actions which have been geared towards the community.The Penguins will be a positive impact in the Pittsburgh area for generations to come.I’m sure I left some things out but I hope that this four part series shed a light on why it is great to be a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. Enjoy the benefit of being a fan of such a great organization, not all teams are created equally.You can find Part 1 (Art Ross) of this series here You can find Part 2 (Hart Trophy) here You can find Part 3 (Stanley Cup) here Thanks for reading!Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal