MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin men's hockey defenseman Jake Bunz and women's hockey forward Annie Pankowski  were two of 17 candidates nominated for the 2018 Hockey Humanitarian Award, the foundation announced Thursday.

The award is presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at large through leadership in volunteerism.

A senior graduating in May with a degree in real estate, Badgers rear guard Jake Bunz has been as active off the ice as he has been on it.

After traveling to the caribbean nation of Haiti in 2012 for a mission trip, Bunz and his family became heavily involved in an orphanage based in Fond Blanc, a small mountain village located nearly three hours outside of Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Moved by their experience, Bunz and his family became prominent with the founding of the the Fond Blanc Foundation. The foundation began with the intention of providing its 40 kids food, education and medical care.

The orphanage now houses nearly 65 children, and the foundation has since expanded to provide education and healthcare to approximately 450 kids as well as other members of the Fond Blanc community.

In addition to helping with foundation logistics and organizing fundraisers, Bunz has made around 12 additional trips back to Haiti to assist with maintenance projects like road repairs, help with the construction of buildings such as teacher housing and additions to the orphanage building, and spend time with the children in both the orphanage and the surrounding community.

Apart from his time with the Fond Blanc Foundation, Bunz has spent more than 30 hours volunteering with various organizations through Wisconsin's Badgers Give Back program.

In addition to her time on the ice, Pankowski, a senior studying zoology with plans to become a veterinarian, has spent nearly her entire college career volunteering with OccuPaws, an organization that trains and pairs service dogs with the visually impaired in Wisconsin and neighboring states.

After sitting in on guide dog training sessions during the spring semester of her freshman year, the Laguna Beach, California native began to house and train dogs herself, usually for one to two weeks at a time. Dogs in-training accompany Pankowski everywhere, from classes, to practices, to video sessions and more.

Before long, Pankowski's involvement with OccuPaws grew and she began to take dogs for longer periods of time, all while balancing a rigorous academic regimen and the demands of being a student-athlete. Pankowski and her most recent trainee, Brandy, have spent more than 1000 hours together.

In addition to Pankowski's efforts raising the dogs, she also has helped organize fundraisers for Occupaws and has served as a mentor to other students at Wisconsin that are involved in the organization. She even helped former UW teammate and defenseman Lauren Williams (2014-18) become involved with the training program.  

OccuPaws is not the only organization Pankowski has given her time to throughout her time at UW. The redshirt-senior has also participated in classroom-oriented organizations like Badger Backpack and Flat Bucky, which paired student-athletes with classrooms in Wisconsin.

Pankowski would also visit the UW Children's Hospital and take part in Caleb's Pitch.

Finalists for the 2019 Hockey Humanitarian Award will be announced in February. The 2019 recipient will be honored in a ceremony on Friday, April 12th as part of the NCAA Men's Frozen Four weekend in Buffalo, N.Y.