Henrik Lundqvist, a former New York Rangers goalie, founded the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation with his wife, Therese, in 2014. The foundation combats poverty internationally by funding education, safe play spaces and health resources for marginalized children.

Partnerships

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation ambassadors have partnered with Ebba Lovenskiold, the founder of Together For Better. The foundation helps children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic access proper education. The foundation works with Together For Better to construct a large playground at a school in La Ramona, Dominican Republic, where 250 children currently lack a safe place to play. The partnership has resulted in the construction of three schools and two playgrounds. It also provides supplies and hires teachers. In Haiti, an IPC analysis found nearly 277,000 children face acute malnutrition between December 2023 and November 2024, including 125,000 who are severely malnourished, driven by factors including recurrent cholera epidemics, child morbidity and poor food intake.

Child poverty in the Dominican Republic stands at 21.5%, rising to 27% in rural regions, with nearly 5% of children living in extreme poverty. The Borgen Project spoke with Ambassador Michael Polt, a professor at Arizona State University and board member for the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Baltic-American Freedom Foundation. Polt said sport is a key part of the social fabric of communities, both nationally and internationally, and that for young people in disadvantaged circumstances, participation in sports activities is often the only way out of poverty. “Lundqvist knows that and therefore supports critical improvements of the living environment of young people so they can best avail themselves of the opportunities sports bring to improve their lot in life,” Polt said. “Hats off to Henrik Lundqvist and his family.”

Construction of Sanitation Facilities

In 2024, the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation initiated a $17,600 grant to create new sanitary facilities at the Foundation for the Unity and Growth of the People’s school in the Dominican Republic. This school serves 240 students in La Ramona, Dominican Republic, most of whom are of Haitian descent. Approximately 3 million children in Haiti needed humanitarian support as of 2023, according to UNICEF, the highest number on record. Twenty-eight percent of the population in the Dominican Republic face challenges including lack of access to health and primary education, and approximately 40% of children in the country do not finish primary school. The foundation aims to provide the school community with a safe, consistent restroom to support student health, decency and learning. It built girls’ facilities with three restrooms and three sinks, boys’ facilities with two restrooms and two sinks, and staff facilities with one restroom and a sink. The foundation impacts children aged 3 to 13 and roughly 10 teachers and staff annually, promoting handwashing, clean water and facility care to reduce illness and improve attendance.

Ronald McDonald House

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation has been working with the Ronald McDonald House in Huddinge, Sweden, since 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, Henrik Lundqvist Foundation donated $50,000 to support the improvement of the Ronald McDonald House’s playground and outdoor areas. As of the end of 2025, the project remained in progress after facing delays, with the foundation expecting to share results once construction is complete in 2026. In April 2025, Henrik Lundqvist, together with New York Rangers alumni, participated in the 31st annual “Skate with the Greats” event and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, raising money to support Ronald McDonald houses in New York.

Support to Children’s Hospitals

In 2024, the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation supported New York Presbyterian Children’s hospitals, including Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and the Komansky Center for Children’s Health. In New York, roughly 1,000 children under age 20 have cancer, and more than 315,000 children have asthma. The foundation provided a $25,000 grant to enlarge child life assistance services. In February 2024, Lundqvist visited the hospital to deliver gifts and memorabilia collected by the foundation’s young ambassadors. The foundation renewed its support in 2025 for the hospital’s child life services with another $25,000.

Garden of Dreams Foundation

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation has partnered with the Garden of Dreams Foundation since 2014 to help kids facing illness or hardship. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation and Garden of Dreams launched a hunger initiative in New York City, donating $100,000 to four organizations to support food-insecure children and their families, and sending 1,530 children and their families to New York Rangers games, New York Knicks games and MSG concerts. Roughly one in four children in New York City, or 24%, face food insecurity and lack stable access to food. More recently, in 2024, Henrik Lundqvist Foundation granted $26,000 through Garden of Dreams to send 68 children and their families to a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, and renewed its support in 2025 with an additional $25,000 grant for the 2025 to 2026 National Hockey League (NHL) season.

Food Bank of New York City

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation’s partnership with the Food Bank of New York City in 2024 granted $50,000 to support the Food Bank’s campus pantry and mobile pantry programs for the 2024 to 2025 school year. This support has enabled the Food Bank to provide more than 32,280 meals to 425 children and their families. In September 2025, the foundation renewed its $50,000 grant to support the Food Bank’s mobile and campus food pantry programs.

– Ruba Alghurab

Ruba is based in Debary, FL, USA and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

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