Declan Farmer, Paralympic stars team up with DAWG Nation Hockey Foundation

Paralympic hockey gold medalist Declan Farmer and partner Madison Jenkins moved to Colorado a few years ago for the same reasons so many do: the state's natural beauty and healthy environment.

In an added benefit, the switch from Nashville to Boulder meant that Farmer was within driving distance of the DAWG Nation Hockey Foundation, which is based in Littleton, Colorado.

DAWG Nation traces back two decades ago to a beer league hockey team called the Dawgs. In a nine-day span in February 2009, three players were diagnosed with cancer. Later that year, a fourth player was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that ultimately took his life.

What started with passing a hat around the locker room, and bringing the cash to the hospital to support the players and families, has now become a full-fledged foundation.

DAWG Nation has helped raise more than $6 million to give to families in need that have hockey connections.

"The NHL had a mantra — 'hockey is for everyone.' We took that on," said Martin Richardson, who was the beer league team captain and became the founder and president of the foundation.

Farmer's involvement predates his move to Boulder, but it started with him playing a tournament in Colorado.

Richardson found out about Farmer through Jerry DeVaul, the president of the Colorado Sled Hockey Association who is also a U.S. Army veteran, double amputee and 2024 finalist for the NHL’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award.

So Richardson watched Farmer play in person and left thinking what so many others had quickly realized: he was the best guy on either team. Farmer is the national team's all-time leader in points (more than 400) and goals (more than 200) at 28 years old.

Richardson was even more impressed with Farmer off the ice upon a face-to-face meeting.

"You can't help but fall in love with him," Richardson said. "I'm a CPA by trade, but all of a sudden I'm talking to this guy that's well beyond his years, graduate from Princeton, national team when he was 14 years old, first gold medal at 16."

Farmer liked what he heard from Richardson. He learned about fundraisers such as the DAWG Bowl, an annual summer tournament with sled and stand-up hockey teams, including former NHL players.

Last summer, Richardson said the bowl generated $400,000 through registrations, sponsorships, silent and live auctions and, in an ode to the foundation's beginnings, pass the hats in locker rooms.

The most prolific scorer in U.S. Paralympic history has also been spotted at Hockey Heals, a weekly Wednesday morning community skate that supports those going through life-altering events.

"Everyone (on the national team) has their own stuff in their own communities that they work with," Farmer said. "A lot of people start playing sled hockey from grassroots adaptive organizations, so they'll go volunteer with them."

Now that he's a local resident, Farmer has become what Richardson called "a key ambassador" for the foundation.

Farmer even joined Richardson in traveling to Minnesota for a tournament to benefit a man who had just been paralyzed.

Not only does he play in tournaments and participate in fundraisers, but Farmer is also a leader in rallying other Paralympians to take part.

More than a dozen current or former national team players have participated in major DAWG Nation events.

"It was a good way for me, moving to Colorado and just kind of jumping right into that hockey community there," Farmer said. "I met a lot of really special people from it."

Like Wilder Hagen, a boy who was born with cerebral palsy. In 2022, Farmer and the 4-year-old Wilder shared the ice at a foundation event in Steamboat Springs, leading Farmer to call him a "future 2038 Paralympian." Farmer still texts with Wilder's dad.

"(Farmer) knows that he's important to the sport," Richardson said. "He knows he's important to other kids and even adults that might be going through stuff or lost limbs, who were born with different things.

"We're giving him a platform, and he's able to utilize it."

Throughout the winter, in a series called Hometown Hopefuls, NBC is spotlighting the stories of Olympic and Paralympic athletes from across the United States as they work towards the opportunity to represent their country at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. We’ll learn about their paths to their sports’ biggest stage, the communities that have been formative along the way, and the causes they’re committed to in their hometowns and around the world. Visit nbcsports.com/hometown-hopefuls for more stories on the road to Milan Cortina.