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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
West Island sports teams rally for charity
posted by jmeagher at 18h43
Beaconsfield Oldtimers raised $41,000 for local charities this year. (Gazette file photo)
You’ve probably heard the expression it takes a village to raise a child.
Well, it might take the entire planet to raise Haiti from the rubble of last month’s devastating earthquake.
It is pleasing to know that West Islanders of all ages are certainly doing their part to help with this Herculean relief effort.
A few examples of the goodwill effort coming from the local sports community: On Friday night, the 94.7 Hits FM hockey team and Lakeshore hockey refs teamed up for a charity hockey game on Friday in Beaconsfield that raised $1,000 for the Otis Grant and Friends Foundation, half of which was earmarked for the Haitian relief effort.
But perhaps the nicest part of the story was the fact Scott Meehan’s Lakeshore peewee A Jaguars team decided to donate a portion of its team fundraising proceeds – earned while bagging groceries over the Christmas holidays – to help with the Grant Foundation’s Haitian relief effort.
A classy gesture from 11- and 12-year-old hockey players.
Other uplifting examples of goodwill abound.
The Dollard synchro team also got in the spirit of helping by donating a portion of the proceeds from team clothing sales at the DDO pool on the weekend.
Still no exact figure on the final tally, but Maureen Hersh, the mother of junior swimmers Kelley and Madi Hersh, said the team plans to keep collecting every dime it can to assist the Red Cross.
Hersh’s daughter Kelly came up with the idea to help the victims of Haiti.
“Kelly asked her team to help and they all are very excited to help in any way. They all feel that giving back is so important. This is their way of making a difference.”
Schools across the West Island are rolling up their sleeves, and raiding their piggy banks, as well.
Students at École St. Rémi in Beaconsfield recently rallied together to raise $1,400 for the Haitian relief effort. The fundraiser was organized around a school visit by Grey Cup-toting Alouettes Anthony Calvillo and Paul Lambert. Former Alouette Mike Soles has two sons at the school, Anthony and Matthew Soles, who helped move the yardsticks on this glowing example of team effort.
On the weekend, the 10th edition of the Sian Bradwell-WILBA All-Star event took place at John Rennie High School in Pointe Claire, with yet another appearance by our community-minded Als. And yes, the Grey Cup was there, too.
The event, co-ordinated by Mike Homsy, raised funds for the Sian Bradwell fund to aid children with cancer.
On Tuesday night, I attended a civic ceremony hosted by the Beaconsfield Hockey Oldtimers, who handed out $41,000 worth of donations to community groups, hospitals and the needy.
The BOHA, through its annual September tournament, has raised a whopping total of $400,000 in just over 10 years.
Tourney president Terry O’Neill personally visited many of the groups that received donations, and knows how grateful they are to receive financial help during these tough economic times.
His only wish is that he could do more.
jmeagher@thegazette.canwest.com