What Devils’ Kyle Palmieri hopes to get out of 2nd annual military ball

New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri and his foundation will host its second annual military ball on Saturday. NHLI via Getty Images

Between the NHL schedule and the upcoming trade deadline, it’s a stressful time of year Kyle Palmieri and any hockey player.

But the Devils forward is also focusing on final touches for the Kyle Palmieri Foundation’s second annual Military Ball, which will be held on Saturday night following an afternoon home game against the Washington Capitals.

Palmieri and many Devils teammates will attend, despite the hectic time of year on the hockey schedule.

“It’s awesome and I think the support from my teammates, it’s incredible to see. Guys want to help with it with whatever they can and obviously being there is a huge help and that’s time out of their day," Palmieri told NJ Advance Media. "This year we have a long trip coming up right after, it’s right around the trade deadline, it’s kind of a stressful time of the year, so obviously you don’t want to add stress by making guys come out, but I think everyone had a good time last year and we’re looking forward to having a good time again this year.”

After launching his foundation in 2018, Palmieri held the first ball last February, marking one of the first major fundraising efforts for the group. Last year’s event raised money for three programs designed to aid veterans: Pets for Vets, The National Military Family Association and The Service Women’s Action Network. Those programs will again be at the center of this year’s fundraising efforts.

“They do such a great job. It was our first year, going through fundraising and things like that so we chose to keep the same organizations for the second year in a row," Palmieri said. "So this is kind of our last push with these couple organizations and then I think, as of right now, we’re planning on shifting our focus to a couple other organizations in this area.”

Palmieri and his wife, Ashlee, handle most of the organization for the event and the foundation, and their efforts from last year have helped the event grow.

After making a late push to sell tickets in 2019, Palmieri said many more people have become aware and interested in year two.

“I think just due to word of mouth of people having a good time and having everything a little more organized,” Palmieri said. “There’s so many little things that my wife takes care of that you don’t really think about — ticket sales, making sure the website’s built for whatever kind of traffic you might have. So there’s some growing pains as far as that with the first year, but this year I think we have everything pretty dialed in, and ticket sales have been really good, so we’re really looking forward to it.”