Decatur Civic Center hosts charity hockey games for Blaze coach battling cancer

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - In early June, the Decatur Blaze hockey club announced coach Zac Pearson, head of the Blaze 18U program, was in the midst of an ongoing cancer battle.

This weekend, the Decatur Civic Center hosted six charity hockey games featuring players of club programs across the Midwest in an effort to raise money for Pearson's treatment.

"Never Far From Home" is a nationwide nonprofit who's mission is to help hockey families in a time of need. Fundraising efforts go on to help players, coaches, trainers and more, with medical expenses and sudden life crises.

After hearing of Zac's story through social media, the organization began collaborating to organize a benefit for the Blaze coach.

"He's battling stage 4 cancer," said "Never Far From Home" co-founder Vladan Chase. "Inside of that network we've developed we came across that story on social media channels and decided we'd love to put a tournament on for him."

In addition to bringing more than 50 players to Decatur for hockey games built behind a bigger cause, the nonprofit is also hosting a silent auction of sports memorabilia and merchandise which is matched dollar-for-dollar toward Zac's cancer treatment.

Bidding for the silent auction concludes at 11pm Saturday evening. Listings can be found at on the "Never Far From Home" website.

"Quite a few pieces are from my own collection that I've decided to add into the auction," said treasurer and coordinator Jennifer Simpson.

Other items, including Chicago and St. Louis specific auction items, were provided by a consignment store in Denver where the nonprofit is based.

Organizers have the goal of raising at least $5,000 to benefit Zac's fight against cancer. They are hopeful the connectivity of the hockey community will far surpass expectation.

"People come together for somebody like him," said Patrick Donnelly, another co-founder. "He's a local coach. He's coached so many kids in this community. [The tournament] came together naturally. It's something fantastic about the hockey community. It's just what we do."