Thousands of hockey players - and hundreds of parents - piled into the gym at Nelson High School on Wednesday night in a culmination of months of hard work.
The 37 Burlington Eagles boys hockey teams, and 21 Burlington Barracudas girls hockey teams, have been collecting food and money since the start of the hockey season for the Gift of Giving Back - Canada’s largest youth run food drive.
“Even though I sit on the board, I’m a parent first,” Ai-Ri Brown, director of community and public relations for the Gift of Giving Back said. “My kids have played hockey for a long time, and I love the notion of this being a part of their hockey experience.”
In an email following the event, Brown added the current total amount of food and funds raised is more than $863,000 – and that number is expected to go up as the day goes on.
Now that all that food has been collected, it is transported to the Feed Halton warehouse up the road. From there, it is sorted and will be distributed around the region to several food banks.
“Our next steps will be receiving the food, and then we figure out what we have,” Robin Bailey, executive director of Feed Halton said.
“We have to do a bit of an inventory to start the distribution process. It’s actually a super busy week for us, once we unload all of this food into the bins, we have to get ready for the Oakville Gift of Giving Back in a few weeks.”
Neighbouring Oakville also takes part in the Gift of Giving back, and the two cities have turned the charity event into a bit of a friendly competition.
Burlington mayor Marianne Meed Ward – wearing a personalized Burlington Barracudas jersey – issued a challenge to Oakville mayor Rob Burton.
“This is a challenge to my fellow mayor in Oakville, that we are going out collect you – and you’ll have to wear a Barracudas jersey if we outdo you,” Meed Ward said. “He’s going to have to wear that jersey because we are going to beat him, and I know tonight is going to be amazing.”
The Gift of Giving Back is about getting athletes to work together off the ice just as they do during games and practice.
The messaging around the event, and the months of build up, is designed to get those young players to understand what it takes to make a difference in someone else’s life.
“It’s why we do it,” Jean Longfield, chair of the Gift of Giving Back said. “Coaching young kits, it’s about more than just their athletic abilities, it’s about character. Especially in today's hectic world where they get a lot of negative messaging, it’s nice to do something that shows something positive.”
The Gift of Giving Back turns 20 years old next year, and plans are in motion for something big, though specifics are still being kept under wraps for the time being.