Jay Evers was a 32 year old lifelong resident of West Haven, CT and the truly epitome of a friend. He was funny, kind, loving, a big kid at heart who could light up the room with his green eyes, contagious smile and his signature “thumbs up”. He had the best laugh, the kind that immediatelyputs a smile on your face. He always wanted everyone around him to have a good time, no sadness, just Jay was everyones friend; his personality and outlook on life drew people to him, and he didn’t just have one group of friends, he had strong bonds with many people. Whether you knew Jay for 10+ years or met him yesterday you would feel as if you had known him forever. Certain friendships turned the bond into brotherhood, family status. He was the best man in many friends weddings, truly fitting as he was THE best! He was an avid hockey player, starting as a young child, throughout high school and recreationalas an adult. Most recently, he played for the Killa Beez, his final game taking place on April 7, 2013. Jay had lunch with some close friends in the early afternoon, went to his hockey game, played well and began to not feel well. Some teammates offered to take him home, then to the hospital, but before they could make it there, Jay suffered a heart attack. In the blink of an eye our lives were changed forever. An amazingly beautiful soul was taken far too soon, as far as we were concerned.
Being that Jay’s 33rd birthday was in May, I wanted to hold a celebration to honor and remember what he was about. I put together a Celebration of Life Benefit, contacted local businesses for donations and thought, why not try to truly honor Jay and make a donation in his name? Since he loved hockey and kids, mine was especially fond of him, coordinate with the West Haven Youth Hockey League and make a donation to them. The benefit was a success far beyond my imagination. That night I decided that I needed to start the Thumbs Up Fund to do a yearly benefit for Jay, raise funds for other kids who love the sport as he did and either help out a youth league or coordinate with the high school for deserving hockey players going off to college. A few weeks later, the Thumbs Up Fund was born!
thumbsupfund.wordpress.com 