On Sunday, March 2, Capital One Arena will host a live figure skating tribute to honor the victims and first responders affected by January’s airplane and helicopter collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Monumental Sports and Entertainment, Entertainment Gang, and US Figure Skating announced today that all proceeds from the “Legacy on Ice” benefit will go to the US Figure Skating Family Support Fund, Greater Washington Community Foundation’s “DCA Together Relief Fund,” and the DC Fire and EMS Foundation.
The mid-air collision between an American Airlines plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29 claimed the lives of 67 people, including local figure skaters returning from a training camp held after the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
“These tragedies go from—you read about and hear about it on TV, then it starts to go down the road of being very, very personal,” Ted Leonsis, chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, said at a press conference today at Capital One Arena. “We said, let’s do more, let’s try to activate the community, let’s try to get the sponsors involved, let’s try to get our season ticket holders involved.”
The live tribute, co-hosted by Olympic figure skating champion Brian Boitano, will feature more than nine champion figure skaters, including Fairfax’s own Ilia Malinin, along with Johnny Weir, Tara Lipinksi, Scott Hamilton, and Kristi Yamaguchi. “We want to get the message out far and wide,” Leonsis said. “It would be great to have the whole community come here and celebrate these lives, but also to raise a lot of money.”
Tickets for “Legacy on Ice” will go on sale Monday, February 10, at 10 AM on Ticketmaster. There is also a separate donation link.
Leonsis said that since the announcement, the effort had already raised over $20,000 in donations. Amy Mauro, executive director of the DC Fire and EMS Foundation, one of the beneficiaries of the event, said that donations to the foundation will go to supporting the wellness and recognition of the first responders to the crash scene.
“Now that the recovery mission is wrapping up and the attention may fade, that doesn’t mean that the experience goes away for [the first responders]. A lot of this is likely to weigh on them in the long term and can have impacts on their health, and that’s what we’re here for,” Mauro said. She noted that many first responders told her this rescue effort was the hardest scene of what were sometimes 20- to 30-year-long careers.
Leonsis says the production is still finalizing details, but attendees should expect dignified and emotional figure skating performances with tributes to those affected by the tragedy.
