The pitch to parents from Cloverdale Minor Hockey coach Dave Campbell was persuasive:
"The holidays are almost here," it read. "Some of us will be travelling, skiing, spending time with our families, receiving gifts and enjoying several large meals," it continued.
"Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in our community who are not concerned with what gift to buy, or who will be attending Christmas dinner. These people are concerned about paying the rent, ensuring there is heat and light and wondering if there is going to be enough money in the budget to provide the next meals. This is a problem for these families 365 days of the year."
Campbell had realized a food drive would make a great learning tool and team-building exercise off the ice for the Cloverdale Pee Wee A2s – an opportunity for coaches and players to do something for others without expectation of anything in return.
On a recent weekend, the team split into two factions and fanned out across the community.
A couple of hours later, the results were in: the defense/goalie players marginally defeated the forwards with 371 items to 366, a total of 737 items for the Surrey Food Bank – an unqualified success.
"It was great to see the team out having some fun as well as seeing them excited to help those who are less fortunate then ourselves," Campbell said, thanking parents as well for supporting the cause.
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