Who better than Wayne Gretzky to help disadvantaged children?

Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He learned to play hockey in a backyard rink with his father, Walter. Even at age 10, young Wayne raised eyebrows by scoring 378 goals and 517 points in a peewee hockey season. He began his professional career in the World Hockey Association with the Indianapolis Racers in 1978 at age 17. After a trade to the Edmonton Oilers, his National Hockey League career began in 1979 when the Oilers moved from the WHA to the NHL.

In his 20 year career with four teams - Edmonton, Los Angeles, St. Louis and the New York Rangers – Gretzky set every major offensive record in the history of the sport, including: goals (92), assists (163) and points (215) in a season; and goals (894), assists (1963) and points (2,587) in a career. In all he set or tied 61 NHL regular season, playoff and All-Star Game records. He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP eight consecutive times (9 in all), the Art Ross Trophy as league scoring champion 10 times and led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships. He also helped Team Canada win three Canada Cup titles. Only seven months after his retirement in 1999, Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada, becoming the tenth and final player in Hockey Hall of Fame history to have the mandatory three-year waiting period for enshrinement waived by the Hall's board of directors.

Less than one month later, ESPN named Gretzky the fifth greatest athlete of the 20th century. Gretzky, the most honored player in a team sport with nine MVP awards and the only NHL player to record more than 200 points in a season (four times), was voted No. 5 among North American athletes by SportsCentury's distinguished 48-person panel. Only Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown preceded him.

Created in 2002, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation is dedicated to helping disadvantaged youngsters throughout North America participate in the sport of hockey. The Foundation has held three successful hockey equipment drives in partnership with Ford of Canada, raised money through Gretzky's annual adult Fantasy Camp, and garnered over $250,000 from the annual Wayne Gretzky Foundation Golf Classic. For more information, visit www.waynegretzky.com

Gretzky gives his time to countless other charitable endeavors. He serves as honorary chairman of Ronald McDonald House Charities in Canada; is an Athlete Ambassador and Honorary Member of the Board of Trustees of Right to Play, an athlete driven humanitarian organization that uses sports to enhance child development in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world; and is a participant in "Hands That Shape Humanity", a project for the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre. He has received the Olympic Order and is the first recipient of the International Horatio Alger Award.