Ex-Flyer Saleski now dedicated to helping inner-city students

Don Saleski, the scrappy former Flyers forward affectionately known as Big Bird during his playing days, has spread his wings.

As a result, thousands of teenagers, primarily from the inner city, are benefiting through scholarships that pay for most of their tuition to parochial grade schools and high schools in the Philadelphia area.

Forty years after he was on a Flyers team that won its second straight Stanley Cup, Saleski now is a partner with a company that processes payments for hospitals, but he also finds time to be chairman of Business Leaders Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS), which last year raised $10 million to help put 5,500 children though Catholic schools.

This year, Saleski said, BLOCS is on target to raise $16 million, primarily through two Pennsylvania tax-credit programs.

"Don Saleski was my childhood hero," said John Humes, 55, of Lansdowne. "Now he's my adult hero."

Humes' 14-year-old daughter, Autumn, would not have been able to attend eighth-grade classes at St. Bernadette of Lourdes in Drexel Hill if it wasn't for a $3,500 scholarship from BLOCS.

Humes, a special-education teacher at Kensington Health Sciences Academy, and his wife, Phyllis, have three children. They also have lots of bills, John Humes said, because his wife has medical issues and his 17-year-old daughter, Jackie, has Down syndrome.

"We're buried in debt and BLOCS saved our lives," said Humes, who said he was inspired to become a special-education teacher because of the care he gives to Jackie.

Saleski, 65, who works for BLOCS as an unpaid volunteer, seems prouder to talk about his work with the organization than his Stanley Cup years with the Flyers. He had three consecutive seasons of 20-plus goals with the Flyers and retired from hockey after spending the 1979-80 season with Colorado.

The former right winger said that BLOCS raises money through two Pennsylvania tax-credit programs - the Educational Improvement Tax Credit and the Opportunity State Tax Credit. The OSTC program is for the poorest communities in Pennsylvania, Saleski said.

"Companies can direct up to 90 percent of what they pay in state income tax to these programs for tuition reimbursement for kids," Saleski said. ". . . You know where state taxes are going and you're helping kids get a better education. We all hear about the challenges in inner city - not only the poverty levels, but getting discipline and moral values and a good support environment."

Saleski said the BLOCS board of directors is composed of about 40 business executives from the Philadelphia region.

"I got involved because I look at our inner cities and I believe things like what happened in Baltimore are an example," said Saleski, whose wife, Mary Ann, created the Flyers Wives Carnival in 1976, helping to raise more than $25 million before stepping down last year. "These inner cities are tough areas and these kids have a tough time, and their way to improve their life is through a good, value-based education. I'm a believer that if we're ever going to change and help inner cities to rise up, it's through the value of an education - and these kids deserve it. . . .

"There's a lot of good, very good, and excellent schools in the public-school system of Philadelphia, but there's also some seriously underperforming schools, and our parents of the kids that want Catholic schools are willing to sacrifice to put their kids in a better environment - a safe environment, a more nurturing environment - where the kids are going to get a better education."

Of the 5,500 students who received scholarships last year, 1,400 came from inner-city families making less than $25,000, and 1,100 came from families earning less than $50,000.

Blair Turnipseed, 16, a Frankford resident who is completing her junior year at St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, had been attending public school before getting a BLOCS scholarship.

"Public school wasn't for me; it didn't test me," she said, adding that she hopes to study pre-law in college. "Learning was on a one-track pace. At St. Hubert's, they have classes in [advanced placement], honors and different tracks. They have some tracks that are on a slower pace and that can help you."

"BLOCS are really kind people," said Autumn Humes, who made the most of stay at St. Bernadette of Lourdes. A student who has aspirations of becoming a writer, teacher or chef, she has earned a four-year scholarship to Archbishop Carroll High.

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Forty years ago, the Flyers won their last Stanley Cup. Here is a look at the players on that team and their whereabouts:

GOALIES

Bernie Parent: Flyers ambassador and a motivational speaker. Lives in Warminster and Wildwood Crest.

Wayne Stephenson: Nicknamed "Fort Wayne," he died of cancer in 2010 at age 65.

Bobby Taylor: Tampa Bay Lightning broadcaster. Lives in Tampa area.

DEFENSEMEN

Tom Bladon: Owns a Tim Hortons restaurant in Edmonton, where he Lives.

Andre "Moose" Dupont: Consultant to a hockey agent. Lives in Three Rivers, Quebec.

Larry Goodenough: Manager of a hockey rink in Warminster. Lives in Bucks County.

Ted Harris: Retired a few years ago from working at a paint store. Lives in Blackwood but is moving to Minnesota.

Ed Van Impe: Retired insurance executive. Lives in British Columbia.

Jimmy Watson: A partner in the IceWorks hockey rink in Aston. Resides in Glen Mills.

Joe Watson: Sells advertising for the Wells Fargo Center and runs the Flyers alumni team, which plays charity games. Lives in Media.

FORWARDS

Bill Barber: Works for Flyers as a scouting consultant. Lives in Tampa area.

Bobby Clarke: Serves as Flyers senior vice president. Lives in Sarasota, Fla., and Ocean City, N.J .

Bill Clement: Flyers color TV commentator, motivational speaker. Lives in New Hope.

Terry Crisp: Studio analyst for Nashville Predators and a former Stanley Cup champion coach (Calgary, 1989). Lives in Nashville.

Gary Dornhoefer: Retired broadcaster. Lives in Port Republic, N.J.

Bob Kelly: Ambassador for the Flyers who does clinics and makes presentations at schools throughout the year. Lives in Marlton.

Orest Kindrachuk: A former insurance executive, he now owns a display company. Lives in Medford Lakes.

Reggie Leach: "The Rifle" serves as a youth counselor on life choices. Lives in Manitoba.

Ross Lonsberry: He died of cancer last year at age 67. After retiring from hockey, he became a commercial insurance broker in Los Angeles.

Rick MacLeish: Insurance salesman. Lives in Ocean City, N.J.

Don Saleski: Partner with Professional Receivables Network, and helps raise money for a Catholic schools scholarship program. Lives in Media.

Dave Schultz: Sells electric power and serves as Flyers ambassador. Lives in Somers Point, N.J.

- Sam Carchidi

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