Hockey Jobs: Meet Christy Hammond, community relations manager for the Red Wings

 

By Alyssa Girardi –

Amidst an early start to the summer for the Detroit Red Wings, a few weeks ago goaltender Jimmy Howard received national attention for his work off the ice.

Kelly Rothe, a 20-year-old Eastern Michigan student, was planning to undergo a preventative double mastectomy after she tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene mutation, the same mutation leading to the breast cancer that took the lives of her mother and aunt. In an effort to bring joy to a scary situation, the Red Wings arranged a dinner for Rothe and her family, topped off by a surprise meeting with Howard, her favorite player, in the locker room complete with roses and a jersey.

Red Wings players are frequently recognized for their charitable contributions off the ice, but behind the initiatives is the community relations department and Michigan graduate Christy Hammond, community relations manager for the Original Six club.

While the aforementioned meeting was a little out of the ordinary – Howard was contacted by a friend of Rothe before Hammond was brought in to assist – normally it is the community relations manager approaching players and coordinating events from beginning to end.

“It seemed like it really helped (Rothe’s) recovery and distracted her from the pain she was dealing with,” Hammond said. “It was a fantastic evening, and I know Jimmy really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed it.”

The community relations department for the Red Wings conducts a gamut of events, from overseeing donations programs and auctions to managing player appearances in the community, such as at schools or hospitals. They also work closely with Make-A-Wish, as well as fulfill direct requests to the team for sick or injured fans.

“Our president Tom Wilson actually put it a really good way,” Hammond said. “He said public relations is how people think about your team, and community relations is how people feel about your team.”

The “Jimmy Howard gave me flowers” moment was one of many events made possible by Christy Hammond and the Red Wings’ community relations department.

Hammond, a Detroit Country Day graduate, decided she wanted to pursue a career in community relations after she attended the Red Wings High School Journalist Day during her junior year of high school. At the event, she listened to then-community relations manager Anne Marie Krappmann discuss her job, and a lightbulb went off for Hammond.

She spent the years following working in public and media relations, interning with the Red Wings, Michigan athletic communications and the Plymouth Whalers during college. Hammond graduated in December 2009, accepted a job with the Red Wings community relations department the following February and “the rest is history.”

Though is a lot of emotion tied to a job working with sick or ailing fans, Hammond has found a way to focus on the positive side: players and coaches bringing happiness to an otherwise terrible situation.

 

She admits to sometimes going home and crying after a patient has passed away, but she said she realizes how helpful the Red Wings community relations experience can be for a patient and his or her family.

“Coach (Mike Babcock) will say ‘We’re not the doctors, we’re not the nurses, we’re not even the researchers — we’re not the ones that are going to make you better or help you with your illness, but we can come along and help give you a reason to smile, give you some joy and help you forget about the horrible thing that you’re going through with your illness for a day or an afternoon.”

Despite the long hours and the sadness that sometimes comes with the job, Hammond said that being able to create lasting memories for people makes it worthwhile and incredibly rewarding.

“It’s definitely the favorite aspect of my job, getting to help make dreams come true whether its a sick little kid or it could be an adult who’s a huge Red Wings fan,” Hammond said. “We work with Make-A-Wish and help grant any wishes that they receive but we also, there’s not that many wish granting charities for adults, so we do get a lot of requests from say, a person’s family member or friend saying so and so is very ill, the Red Wings are their favorite team, they would love to meet Henrik Zetterberg before they get too sick.

“We’ll get tickets for their family we’ll help make sure they know where they’re going if they need handicapped seating and then after the game bring them down to the locker room give them the locker room tour, introduce them to their favorite player and really try to make it a lasting memory for that person and his or her family.”