Red Wings C SERGEI FEDOROV announced yesterday that he
will donate his entire '98-99 base salary of $2M to endow
the establishment of a charitable foundation in his name.
The foundation will distribute funds to various causes, and
has a partnership with the Orchards Children's Services.
Orchards plans to use the money to open a specialized day
camp for autistic and developmentally disabled children and
also create a "Fedorov Scholars" program that will reward an
"at-risk" student each year with a scholarship to a MI
university (Advantage). In Detroit, Helene St. James
reports that the Sergei Fedorov Foundation also plans to
donate $91 to a charity fund for each goal the Red Wings
score during the remainder of the season. Last year, Fedorov
received a $14M signing bonus and a $12M playoff bonus along
with his $2M salary (FREE PRESS, 2/19). Fedorov's agent
MIKE LIUT: "People really haven't been exposed to the real
Sergei Fedorov. Once he injects himself into the community,
it will show people who he really is" (USA TODAY, 2/19). In
Canada, Alan Adams writes the foundation marks the start of
the "rehabilitation of" Fedorov's image, who is "best known
for being the 29-year-old boyfriend of 17-year-old tennis
star ANNA KOURNIKOVA." Fedorov, asked if the charity was a
"vehicle to improve his image": "It's not a priority. My
priority is to help people, help kids" (NAT. POST, 2/19).
