Four-time speed skating Olympian, Dan Jansen finished his professional athlete career on top at the winter games of 1994 in Lillihamer, Norway. But, the losses he endured along the way proved most life affirming. Such losses earned him the nickname “the heartbreak kid.” But, heart break would not be the demise of this giving heart. Jansen soon recognized what a blink of an eye human existence really is. His story is one of perseverance and exponential grace. One that embodies this season of giving.
Winning gold for the 1000 meters race was a long shot– a race which Jansen wasn’t favored to win. But, like any triumph, Jansen’s involved a backstory.
His older sister, Jane, fought a long battle with leukemia inevitably surrendering the morning of February 14, 1988. As a favorite to win during his second Olympic games that day, Jane’s passing was just too much for Jansen, causing a break in concentration and ultimately his falling several times.
“It was a mental battle for me. What if I go out there and win and people think I don't care? When you're getting ready for the race in the Olympics, that's not the mindset you should have. We decided as a family about what would Jane want. She would have felt so bad if I didn't go out there and try. She knew this was my dream and this was my life at the time and I worked so hard to get where I was,” Jansen remembers.
The family decided in unison that he was destined to give it a shot. In the end Jansen says, “It didn't work out, because my mind was in one place and my body was in another. But, I would do it the same again. I would go out there and and give it a shot. You never know. It certainly didn't turn out the way we wanted, but in the long run it's lessons learned. I tried my best and that's all you can do.” Although Jansen finished the 1988 games with no medals, he did receive the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award in light of his determination in the midst of tragedy.
As history would have it, Jansen moved through his grief to victory and even greater things.
He set a world record in the 500 meters event in 1993 and brought home gold in 1994. He skated his victory lap that day holding his one-year-old daughter. That daughter’s name is Jane. He received the 1994 James E. Sullivan Award and was chosen to bear the U.S. flag at the closing ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics. Finally, he was elected to the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005.
“Although my speed skating career came to a happy ending, when I retired it was time that I give back as I had promised myself as much back when my sister passed away,” Jansen explains why he started the Dan Jansen Foundation at the young age of 29 in 1995.
The question of where in the world to begin was top of mind for this professional athlete turned philanthropist, “When you start out, you're not real sure. I wanted to do something certainly leukemia or cancer-related. So, we started out giving grants for research.” Additionally, the non-profit sought to help younger generations with high school scholarships, programs for kids learning to skate and other worthy endeavors.
By trial and error, Jansen’s foundation quickly realized it must narrow focus for an effective swing in the pendulum of change.
Stories of families in similar situations as the Jansen family’s are quite common. Frequent travel for specialists and treatments in other cities quickly wears on the most tenacious spirits. And, the economic demands for frequent air fares, hotel reservations and other unplanned expenditures easily drain most any household budget.
“So, we started the family aid fund to help the families that are in this position. That's the fund that is really big for us,” says Jansen.
To date, the foundation has helped over 750 families.
“It's not necessarily huge scales. But, we get requests almost daily, certainly weekly, for families of those being treated. Now, we go between Charlotte Levine Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The social workers find us the families that need the help. A lot of times it may be that they're in trouble. Whether their utilities are about to be turned off, or they can’t make mortgage and/or car payments, the foundation will pay for a couple months. Unfortunately, we’ve paid for funeral costs even,” he explains.
The foundation recently merged with a Maryland non-profit called Cool Kids which is “devoted to improving the quality of life for pediatric oncology patients and their families by focusing on the academic, social and emotional needs brought on by a cancer diagnosis.”
It’s the little things in life where joy is most often found.
Care packages shared with the families and kids in the hospital, tutoring the kids on well days, and gifted condos to send the families on week-long vacations are just a few ways the collaboration works toward happiness for identified families.
And just in time for the holidays, the Cool Kids Club House in Honor of Dan Jansen opens December 7th. Here kids and their families can create a new sense of normal with moments like movie nights, birthday parties and end of chemo celebrations.
Though it may be far better to give than to receive, to give often calls for capital.
One of the many ways The Dan Jansen Foundation’s mission to solicit financial support is realized is The Dan Jansen Celebrity Classic which annually raises well over $100,000 during the September event.
Sponsor teams of four are paired with one of Jansen’s celebrity friends. The guest list includes names like 5-time Olympic Gold Medalist Bonnie Blair, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and former wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers Sterling Sharpe. A few of his buddies from Rascal Flatts round up the entertainment side of things.
Still, the gift of giving is reciprocal.
While most of his charitable time is devoted to events and projects like these, Jansen’s heart is warmed most often by one-on-one time with folks. “ I enjoy calling kids, or whoever they may be that are in tough situations for encouragement, support and insight,” he says. He finds that these people present themselves because of his personal story, “It's great, but also difficult. I feel like I don't necessarily have any direct answers for them. But, I can certainly tell them what I went through and how we got through it as a family. I hope it helps.”
It's a lonely feeling when you don't feel like anyone can relate to your experience of tragic loss. Just to have that human connection with someone is paramount to moving through grief as Jansen did. He says, “It does have sort of a human side to what was a very public story. So, I think people feel connected.”
In this season of giving Janson says, “It may be cliche. But, whether it's doing a good deed or donating money or time, it's really so much more rewarding I think than people imagine. You literally can change and better the life of someone else. We are all so fortunate in our lives for what we have. Certainly, everybody works hard to get what they have. I'm not saying that it was anything given to us. Rather, after the hard work, we're still fortunate to be in a position to be healthy first and foremost. Do what you can to help because our time on this earth is not very long.”
To learn how you can support The Dan Jansen Foundation go to djfoundation.org.
Even if for just a moment, be still this season dressed in twinkle and good cheer. As it is in the calm where the joy of giving is born.
