A North Vancouver hockey team embraced the spirit of Christmas for a costumed skate-a-thon that so far has raised more than $3,300 for charity.
The North Shore Winter Club’s U13 C1 girls team took to the ice for a physically distanced, COVID-safe festive skate Dec. 12 to raise funds for Plan Canada International’s Because I’m a Girl campaign. The money raised by the event is enough to provide 11 girls in developing countries funding to go to school for a year.
The skate-a-thon was livestreamed by the club, and to keep the donations flowing the 11 players on the team provided entertainment throughout, all the while dressed in cute and often cumbersome Christmas costumes over top of their hockey gear. Family members watched at home as Santa, a gift box, an Elf on the Shelf, a yeti and even Max pulling the Grinch on a sleigh completed laps, skills challenges and drills. In between laps the girls would come by the camera to tell jokes or send messages to loved ones.
“Their masked, muffled hellos to remote grandparents brought tears of joy all across Canada,” said team manager Louanne Wong. “As parents and extended families have not been able to see their players all season as their skill sets grew, this virtual skate-a-thon was our way of sending our love remotely and sending the gift of education to girls not as fortunate as our own this holiday season.”
Visit the team’s fundraising page for more information on the campaign.
