Islanders’ Schaefer honours late mother with room at cancer centre
The Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Room will offer a space and counselling for children whose parents have cancer.
A Long Island cancer centre unveiled a room named for the late mother of New York Islanders defenceman Matthew Schaefer on Monday.
Schaefer attended the opening of the Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Room at the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center in Lake Success, N.Y., part of Northwell Health, with his father Todd and brother Johnny. The space uses Islanders colours and includes family photographs and a bubble hockey table. The Islanders Children's Foundation donated $150,000 toward the room, which is designed for children while their parents undergo treatment. Counselling will be available for children of cancer patients.
Jennifer Schaefer died of breast cancer in February 2024. Matthew and his family worked with Northwell Health on the project as a way to support families facing similar experiences.
Schaefer said he wished his own family had been able to use a room like it. His father said the finished space reflected what Jennifer would have wanted.
