Good Goals

Jack Leandro loves ice hockey. “He was pretty much born in the rink,” his mom, Lyndsey, told TIME for Kids. As a baby, Jack watched his dad and grandfather play. By age 2, he was on the ice. He learned to skate, then he learned the game. He’s been obsessed ever since.

Jack and his family live in Acushnet, Massachusetts. If you happened to be there last summer, you could have seen Jack shooting hockey pucks in his driveway. You might have thought he was just sharpening his skills. Actually, he was shooting for a fundraiser he started called Pucks for Bucks with Jack.

Jack and his family live in Acushnet, Massachusetts. If you happened to be there last summer, you could have seen Jack shooting hockey pucks in his driveway. You might have thought he was just sharpening his skills. Actually, he was shooting for a fundraiser he started called Pucks for Bucks with Jack.

HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES! Jack takes aim, about to make one of thousands of shots for Pucks for Bucks.

“For every dollar donated, Jack would shoot a puck,” his mom says. The original goal was $5,027. (“Number 27 is his jersey number,” his mom explains. “So we had to add it on.”) By the end of August, Pucks for Bucks had raised more than $10,000.

Giving Back

A Wish Come True is special to Jack because the group was there for his family a few years ago when his sister, Sydney, had cancer. “My wish was to go somewhere hot and sunny with a lot of animals, because I just love animals,” Sydney, now 11, told TFK.

A Wish Come True sent the family to San Diego, California, home of the world-famous San Diego Zoo. The group also presented Jack with a hockey scholarship. So giving back felt like the right thing to do. “I wanted to help other families,” Jack says.

SIBLING SUPPORT Jack and his big sister, Sydney, celebrate outside their home on the first day of Jack’s Pucks for Bucks fundraiser.

On May 12, Sydney celebrated three years cancer-free. Jack marked the happy milestone by making it day 1 of his fundraiser. “Sometimes, he’d do 100 pucks in a day; sometimes, he’d do 500,” his mom says.

The family recorded each and every shot using a handheld clicker. If a puck bounced off the goalpost and rolled down the street, “I’d chase after it so we didn’t lose any,” Sydney remembers.

Mary-Kate O’Leary is the executive director of A Wish Come True. She told TFK that Jack is a “role model” for how to take what you love and use it to help others.

Wishes Granted

The money Jack donated to A Wish Come True was enough to grant wishes to two kids. One is a boy named Maddox. He and Jack met for the first time in August, before Maddox’s wished-for trip to Disney World, in Florida. “Jack gave him his hockey stick and signed it and made the magical wish happen, which is just so great,” O’Leary says.

Maddox is “a very good kid,” Jack says. “I felt good that he was able to get a wish.”

Jack is already planning his next Pucks for Bucks fundraiser. It’ll be later this year, after his hockey team competes in the playoffs.

FAVORITE SPORT Jack’s love of hockey helps him stay focused on his way to an important game.

“We’re all just wicked proud of him,” his mom says. “The fact that he wants to do it again is incredible.”

Inspired?

Let Jack’s story inspire you to make a positive difference in your community. Turn the page for ideas on raising funds for a cause you care about.