Like other fans, Lou Buccino had figured hockey fever would be at a high point right about now, with the Tampa Bay Lightning likely contending for a second consecutive Stanley Cup title.

But the labor dispute between the National Hockey League and its players that forced the unprecedented cancellation of the entire season has made Buccino’s lifelong ambitions a bit tougher to realize.

Buccino, you see, is many things to many people. To his barista, he’s the grande latte guy. To about 3,000 employees at Citigroup, he’s the serious-minded director of external affairs. To himself, though, he’s a budding philanthropist who focused his first benevolent efforts on hockey.

Last year, Buccino bought an entire collection of photographs called Focused Passion – 26 behind-the-scenes images documenting the Lightning’s championship season – with plans to let nonprofit organizations use them as a fund-raising attraction.

The cancelled season has put interest in the Bolts on ice, but Buccino says it won’t put his dreams in check. The photo collection is only the beginning for the Caissa Foundation, his upstart philanthropic organization, named after the patron goddess of chess – another game he loves. Caissa will focus on education programs (including chess clubs in schools) as well as environmental initiatives and hardship assistance. Buccino says he’ll find additional ways to help get it off the ground.

“I am using the photographs as an impetus to get started,” Buccino says. But, he says, “I started as a hockey fan, and I’ll always keep one photo of that memorable year.”

(Tampa Bay Illustrated, May/June 2005)

Please contact Lou Buccino for more information regarding the Focused Passion photograph collection (lbuccino@focusedpassion2004.com)

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