Naperville's Evan Lysacek, the two-time U.S. men's figure skating champion and Olympic bronze medalist, has been back in the area preparing for An Evening of Hope, a benefit show for the Stephanie Joseph Memorial Fund and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Lysacek grew up with Joseph, who died of soft tissue sarcoma (a rare cancer) in February. The show, which is at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, features an array of well-known skaters.
The group includes ice dancing tandem Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, 2006 world and 2007 U.S. champion Kimmie Meissner, and current world champion Jeffrey Buttle.
Lysacek is one of the event's organizers. He sent letters to his Olympic friends and had an overwhelming response. The skaters even skipped their appearance fees to help.
But even more amazing is that the event is taking place just weeks before the competitive season begins. That means an extra bonus for spectators.
"Some of the skaters are actually going to be practicing their competitive programs at the show," Lysacek said. "We're always anxious to get more practice in. I'm probably going to end up doing one of my competitive programs. It will actually be really good practice for us."
Read about the life of Stephanie Joseph and her impact on others here.
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