The arrival in our community of more than $500,000 worth of sports equipment delivered by Sports Central and United Cycle for players and families affected by the wildfire carried heavy emotional significance for those who will benefit from the gift.
“We’ve had four months of just, absolutely, chaos, and this gives us a chance to be normal again and to be a family again,” Rosemary Todd, a member of the Knights Football Board of Directors, told Sportsnet.
A semi-trailer load of equipment was delivered to representatives from clubs within the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey, Fort McMurray Minor Baseball and Fort McMurray Minor Football associations.
“It’s just overwhelming. The kids are going to, it’s something, I don’t know, you can’t even talk, it’s just very emotional for me because I think the kids need this to bring them back to normal, the kids that lost stuff, and it’s just, I don’t know, it’s just no words, really, no words,” Brenda Gray-MacNeil, a member of the Fort McMurray Minor Baseball Board of Directors, told Sportsnet.
The equipment came together thanks to a multitude of individual donations of money and equipment from across Canada. Companies like CCM and 14 other sporting goods industry leaders stepped up to donate a variety of new equipment.
The donation will help to replace equipment that was lost in the fire and equipment that had to be thrown out after smoke damage.
Sport Central is a registered charity, whose sole mission is to provide equipment to children in need throughout Alberta.
“We started outfitting the children of displaced families a day after the evacuation and haven’t stopped,” said Sheldon Oleksyn, Executive Director of Sport Central. “We have been working closely with our Founding Partner, United Cycle, on a number of initiatives enabling children from the North to keep playing the sports they love.“
The need does not come to an end when residents return to their homes, businesses and lives, Oleksyn added.
If you are a family interested in equipment for hockey and baseball you can contact the following organizations:
Fort McMurray Minor Hockey – president@fmmha.com
Fort McMurray Minor Baseball – president@fmmba.ca
With files from Jenna Hamilton
Watch the Sportsnet report at sportsnet.ca
