BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The question had a degree of difficulty that gave Jake Bunz a moment of pause, but he ultimately forged ahead with a reply.
Could he provide some perspective on the humanitarian lifestyle that distinguishes so many Wisconsin student-athletes these days?
Bunz, a senior defenseman for the men's hockey team, is the latest to be recognized nationally for his social work. He was named Friday the winner of the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which was introduced back in 1996 and has since developed a distinct Wisconsin flavor.
Bunz joined Brittany Ammerman, a winger from the women's team in 2015, and Erik Raygor, a winger from the men's squad in 1998, as recipients who played for the Badgers.
Nominees for the Hockey Humanitarian Award come from all NCAA competition levels and no other school has as many winners as Wisconsin.
Bunz was joined on the list of five finalists by Annie Pankowski, a senior All-American winger from the women's team. In all, the two Badgers hockey programs have had six individuals nominated, including goaltender Joel Rumpel in 2015, center Andrew Joudrey in 2007 and defenseman Dan Boeser in 2004.
Jake Bunz (left) and Annie Pankowski
Bunz, from Middleton, Wisconsin, is part of an ongoing relief effort in Haiti, focusing heavily on an orphanage in the village of Fond Blanc that was battered by a hurricane in 2010, while Pankowski, from Laguna Hills, California, has devoted much of her free time on campus training service dogs for the visually impaired.
The two join a lengthy list of student-athletes from all corners of the Wisconsin athletics landscape who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian works.
Some, like J.J. Watt and Jake Wood, do it on a prominent scale.
Some, like D'Cota Dixon, Lily Hansen and Ethan Happ stand on a quieter stage.
Bunz was asked for perspective on that culture of giving, whether it's sweat, passion, time or money.
"It kind of reflects the (fact) coaches bring in and want to bring in outstanding human beings," he said.
"I think it looks great for the university. Great people coming out of the university doing cool things. Other student-athletes would look at that and say, 'I want to go to Wisconsin and do something similar.'
"Good on the coaches who are recruiting these outstanding citizens."
Bunz emphasized that he's talking about his peers, not himself, in this equation.
He also mentioned on multiple occasions that the award he received during the men's NCAA Frozen Four in Buffalo, New York, was made possible by the work of so many others, especially the "massive" efforts by his mother Tia, who oversees the non-profit Fond Blanc Foundation in Middleton.
"It's not just me doing it," Bunz said.
But modesty aside, Bunz has reason to be proud of his character and the priorities that brought another Hockey Humanitarian Award to Wisconsin.
"It's just brought a lot of positive attention to the foundation, which has been great," he said.
"There are so many people involved, not just the people that go down there, but also the people back home that haven't had the chance to go down. It's a community effort."
In the midst of pursuing a degree in real estate — he's on pace to graduate next month — Bunz has been part of a dozen mission trips to Haiti since 2012. Homes and service buildings have been constructed or repaired on his watch. Fruit trees and gardens have been planted with the goal of providing sustainable food supplies. Plumbing upgrades have also been made for the 60 or so children at the orphanage.
At the same time, strong relationships have been forged both in Haiti and Middleton, where a squadron of volunteers helps stage fundraisers and plan the itineraries.
Bunz, whose father Garry was a defenseman for the Badgers from 1984 to '87, has been accompanied by members of the Wisconsin men's and women's hockey teams on previous missions. He said the next two trips will include 30 volunteers apiece, adding that there's a waiting list.
What does Bunz get out of the deal?
"Personally I enjoy doing it," he said. "I have a passion for it."
Those attitudes are no doubt shared by former Badgers who've blazed this trail of selflessness.
Watt, the former All-America football player and current NFL standout, raised $37 million to benefit hurricane victims in Texas in 2017. His efforts earned him the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.
Wood, a one-time Wisconsin football player and former Marine, spearheads Team Rubicon, a global disaster response initiative that features a workforce of U.S. war veterans. His efforts earned him the Pat Tillman Award for Courage at the 2018 ESPYs.
Dixon, who just finished a decorated career with the Badgers football team, overcame an impoverished, hard-scrabble upbringing to become a model student-athlete. His volunteer work with Badgers Give Back — the community relations arm of Wisconsin Athletics — helped him earn the Jason Witten Man of the Year Award in February.
Hansen, a former member of the women's rowing team, started her own sign language club on campus and volunteered on behalf of the Veterans Crisis Line.
Happ, a record-setting men's basketball player who will graduate in May, pioneered a project whereby he gave autographed, game-worn shoes to youngsters from local youth groups.
The list goes on.
Winning the Hockey Humanitarian Award carries a lot of weight. Ammerman, who was cited for her work starting a women's soccer league and health initiative in Kenya, said the honor helped her get into medical school at Penn State, where she just completed her first year.
"Anytime my resume gets sent to someone, that's one of the top things listed in my achievements as a student-athlete or student in general," she said. "That seems to get the most attention. It was a really big talking point in all the interviews I did and still is to this day."
Ammerman, who played on the NCAA title team in 2011 and aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon, is still very involved in the Kenya project. She plans a trip there in June to see how 13 village teams — there were two in the beginning — are faring because there have been discussions about expanding the model into neighboring African countries. She said a recent gift of $100,000 provided uniforms and equipment for the participants.
According to Ammerman, winning the Hockey Humanitarian Award is her "greatest" individual accomplishment.
"To be able to watch since 2015 how the award has grown and how much more traction it's getting, I think that's very important," she said.
"Student-athletes are doing so much more than being just a student or just being an athlete. We're getting out there and we're engaging in different passions aside from sports, but using sports as that platform to be able to do that."
Ammerman said volunteering habits take root at Wisconsin, where Badgers Give Back has become a popular, full-time operation for all 23 sports.
"They just make it a very important aspect of your time at Wisconsin, giving back to the community whether it's locally or globally, especially in Madison," she said. "There's so much support for the Badgers in and around Madison, so it's great to interact with the local community. It's been really cool to watch people make their own paths in terms of engaging in community service and giving back."
There was no organized volunteerism to speak of at Wisconsin when Raygor won the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 1998. In fact, he didn't know the citation existed until former sports information assistant Julie Kluge told him she was nominating him for it.
Raygor said he volunteered for satisfaction and social impact, not awards, which explains his reaction to winning the HHA.
"I didn't know what to think," he said. "I don't think anyone goes to college and says, 'I want to win the award for volunteerism.' It's just something you fall into and it might be a passion, a calling, for some guys.
"I certainly enjoyed it, but how did it start? I don't know."
Raygor, now a medical supply salesman who lives in Eau Claire, Wis., with his wife Jessica and three children, turned out to be a go-to guy whenever then-coach Jeff Sauer got a request for an elementary school visit or someone to help out with Special Olympics assignments.
Raygor's typical response?
"Who wants to go with me?" he'd ask of his teammates.
Raygor chuckled at the memory of one trip that included a Latvian (Yuri Gusak), Canadian (Steve Reinprecht) and Finlander (Nikki Siren) piled into his "1970-something" Dodge station wagon that was ultimately sold for $25.
Raygor said he checks out the biographies of Hockey Humanitarian Award nominees each year and typically finds himself overwhelmed.
"I'm just floored at all the different experiences these kids are doing all over the world," he said.
Bunz has the added joy of sharing the Frozen Four spotlight with his younger brother Davis, a sophomore defenseman at Providence College. The Friars reached the semifinals along with Denver, Massachusetts and Minnesota Duluth.
"I'm super proud of him," Jake said of his brother.
Winning the Hockey Humanitarian Award was a collaborative effort, but Bunz is happy to own it.
"It's a cool accomplishment," he said, "and I'm glad I get to put it on my resume and reap the benefits."
