“One little girl will be making her arrival at the beginning of January.”
The inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K Walk/Run and Family Day, which took place on May 31, raised more than $500,000 according to an update by ESPN, published Aug. 1.Â
The event was held in memory of former NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother, Matthew Gaudreau, both of whom died in a bicycling accident on Aug. 29, 2024.
According to ESPN, the money raised will fund an accessible playground at Archbishop Damiano School, a special education school where the brothers’ mother, Jane Gaudreau, and sister work.
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The school is located in Westville, New Jersey, which is less than an hour away from where the brothers were born in Salem and roughly 30 minutes from where they died in Oldsman Township.
Their grandmother, Marie, who died in 2023, also worked at the school for more than four decades.
“People were just so generous, just wanting to be there for our family and whatever they could do to keep John and Matty's legacy alive, which is what we wanted from the playground,” Jane Gaudreau said.
Construction for the playground is expected to begin in late August or early September, per ESPN. A community build will begin Oct. 4, barring any setbacks.
Students of the school created a wish list for what they’d like to see from the playground, which will include ramps, transfer platforms and basic wheelchair accessibility.
"Jane works every day with children with disabilities, and she knew how important it was for the playground to be built," family friend Deb Vasutoro, who organized the 5K, said in May, per ESPN.Â
Vasutoro further explained that the playground has been an idea for nearly five years, but there was never enough funding to make it a reality.
“When the boys passed and Jane needed a purpose, she thought, 'Let's build the playground.' It was the perfect marriage of doing something good to honor the boys and seeing children laugh,” she added.
The family has already scheduled the second annual Gaudreau Family 5K Walk for May 16, 2026, per ESPN.
The inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K saw more than 2,000 people attend
Roughly 1,100 people took part in the inaugural 5K — and another 1,300 joined virtually across the United States, Canada and other parts of the world.
The walk/run began at Washington Lake Park in south Jersey, where Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau spent much of their childhood.
Participants also passed by the Hollydell Ice Arena, where the two brothers started playing hockey.
Johnny Gaudreau would go on to play 10 full seasons with the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL, while Matthew Gaudreau spent five years playing in the AHL, ECHL and Sweden.
The two brothers were in South Jersey last August to attend their sister’s wedding as groomsmen.
On Aug. 29, one day before the wedding, the two brothers were riding bicycles when they were struck by a suspected drunk driver. They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to WDSU.
Their deaths came four months before the birth of Matthew Gaudreau’s first baby (a son) in December, per People, and seven months before the birth of Johnny Gaudreau’s third baby in April, per the NHL.Â
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Johnny Gaudreau shares daughter Noa, born in 2022, and sons Johnny Jr., born in 2024, and newborn Carter with his wife, Meredith.
