USCHO Release
TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Kirk MacDonald has been selected as the U.S. College Hockey Online 2006-07 Unsung Hero, in recognition for his work on the ice as well as off the ice.
A senior forward from Victoria, B.C., MacDonald was Rensselaer’s leading scorer with 27 points, including a team-best 12 goals, in 33 games. Eight of his goals came on the power play and one was a game-winning marker. He also had 20 penalties for 40 minutes. In his career, MacDonald, the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2004-05 and a two-year captain, had 103 points (47 goals, 56 assists) in 137 games.
MacDonald, who is currently playing for the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League, is a management major who has been on the Dean’s List on multiple occasions. He is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and will be inducted into Olympia, Rensselaer’s student-athlete honor society.
A cancer survivor, MacDonald is very active in the community, having served in numerous charitable and volunteer activities during his career at Rensselaer, including:
• Helping organize a season-long campaign to raise funds for cancer research and awareness of the importance of being tested and educated about testicular cancer. At each home game during the 2005-06 season, two members of the team volunteered to have their heads shaved if a minimum of $100 was raised per player. Over $11,000 was donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The gift was one of the largest ever donated by a college of RPI’s size through a grass roots campaign;
• Helping organize and obtaining prizes for raffles to help raise funds for cancer research and to raise awareness;
• Serving as a spokesman at RPI and at other local colleges for cancer awareness;
• Serving as a member of the committee and Master of Ceremonies for the inaugural American Cancer Society Relay for Life at Rensselaer, which raised over $124,000;
• Being named to the American Cancer Society Youth Council for New York and New Jersey;
• Volunteering for the Troy Turkey Trot & as a youth hockey coach;
• Helping organize a food drive to benefit Unity House of Troy by replenishing the organization’s shelves after Thanksgiving;
• Currently working on the Second Annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life at RPI.
In addition to being named the USCHO’s Unsung Hero, MacDonald is also a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award as well as the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The 2007 Rensselaer Alumni Association Community Service Award recipient, he is also a candidate for 2007 Coca-Cola Community Service All-America recognition.
