When the Blues Score, Kids Win

Everyone wins in this year's Ameren Missouri, St. Louis Blues Power Play Goals for Kids contest.

For four years, Ameren Missouri has partnered with the St. Louis Blues to invite four deserving charities that serve local children and youth to participate in the Power Play Goals for Kids. For each power play goal the Blues score during their regular season, Ameren Missouri pledges $200 to the charity who emerges as the fan favorite during a voting period.

This year, four charities were selected to compete: Project Backpack St. Louis, Super Sam Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and STL Youth Sports Outreach.

Ameren Missouri produced a video for each charity, showcasing their service to kids in their communities. These videos were shared by the charities and Ameren Missouri on social media. Fans voted daily from December 1 to January 31 by going to AmerenMissouri.com/Blues.

This year, the fan favorite is STL Youth Sports Outreach. During the televised announcement of the winner, STL Youth Sports Outreach co-founder Billy Mayhall surprised representatives of the other three charities with an announcement of his own. When asked what he'd do with the money, Mayhall said, "If it's okay with Ameren and the Blues, we'd like to split it with all four charities." The other three charities already stood to receive $1,000.

Over the last several years, Ameren Missouri's donations averaged $10,000. By March 14, the Blues had already scored 42 power play goals, bringing the pledge to $8,400. The pledge period runs through the end of the Blues' regular season. Until then, fans of the Blues and all four charities can follow the donation tracker at AmerenMissouri.com/Blues