It is said time is a great healer. Richmond's Lori and Michael Yelizarov know this well.
It has been nine years since they lost their son, Noah, who died in 2004, just shy of his 19th birthday, after being electrocuted during a holiday in Thailand.
From that tragedy has sprung a memorial hockey tournament that bears his name which has raised funds for numerous charitable, community causes.
And with each passing year, the event gets larger, spreads its caring further and the sadness of losing Noah eases.
"In the first few years it was kind of hard on myself and Lori because it was a sore memory," Michael says. "Now, it's becoming not so much of a challenge for us. Of course, we want to remember Noah - it's always a sweet memory. And what the challenge is now is trying to raise as much as we can for the causes we support."
This year's Noah Yelizarov Hockey Tourney hits the ice at the Richmond Oval Aug. 18.
The three-on-three format attracts entries from far and wide.
So too, does the accompanying beer garden, dinner and live auction, all of which last year helped raise $31,000.
Since the event started, it has provided close to $200,000 shared by organizations such as Canuck Place and BC Children's Hospital.
It's an impressive display of community spirit, says Lori.
"Am I surprised? I am and I'm not," she says. "It started out small and became so big. You could see the people were so passionate and really wanting to do good in Noah's name, and keep his memory alive. He was really loved and people wanted to support us and him to keep the tournament
going. "And it just looks like it's getting stronger and stronger because I do think people recognize we are doing good in the community. It's a community effort that everyone wants to be part of."
Addressing that aspect of community is support for programs providing young children with food in schools and at home.
New last year was Blessings in a Backpack (www.blessingsinabackpack.ca), a Canadianbased food distribution charity, which provides backpacks filled with nutritious food for children in inner city elementary schools to take home on weekends.
The event also assists the Vancouver School District's efforts to provide food for students.
"A lot of these kids literally go hungry at school and under perform because of that," Michael says, adding that last year that program received $6,000.
"We've been told it would feed 100 kids for two years, and we're very happy about that," he says. "Now, this year, we brought the program home and we're going to be doing the same thing here, for the Richmond School District."
The local program is called Feed-U-Cate 38 and is designed to provide a meal to students in need.
Recently retired Richmond School District administrator Glenn Kishi, who is coordinating the program, said there's a common belief Richmond is too affluent a community to need a school breakfast or lunch program.
But when he discovered last year as many as 16 local schools already had food programs in place and each was conducting their own fundraising initiatives, he knew it was time to coordinate them and get others involved.
"In Richmond, the poverty is not in one area," Kishi says. "It's not like in east Vancouver. It's in pockets here. We have kids who live in housing co-ops and low-cost rentals that are right beside homes that cost $2 million. So, these kids come to school together."
Part of the fundraising push is to enlist the efforts of We Day - where students commit to a global, as well as local project.
"If they are going to raise money to build a school in Kenya, well they can raise money to help feed their friends at other schools," Kishi says.
The goal is to raise $15,000 to $20,000 over the course of the school year.
Thanks to a connection with the Noah Yelizarov Hockey Tourney through former Richmond school principal Don Taylor, Feed-U-Cate 38 is going to get some exposure and assistance.
So, how does it feel being able to provide that kind of help? "It makes me feel really good. It makes me feel tingly warm inside," says Michael.
"I think Noah would be proud of us. And that gives us the strength to do it next year, and again and again."
For more information about the Noah Yelizarov Hockey Tourney visit www.noahmemorialhockey.ca.
Philip Raphael Richmond News / Glenn Kishi, co-ordinator of the Feed-U-Cate 38 program, said poverty in Richmond is not confined to one distinct area. This year's Noah Yelizarov Hockey Tourney will support the program.;
