The Eastman Selects’ AAA Minor Bantam hockey team are getting involved in the community by helping those less fortunate this holiday season.
The team, whose home rink is in Ste. Anne, is in their first year as a club and want to give back to the communities that are supporting them. In early December, the players’ parents came together to see where the communities were most in need, and how their sons could lend a hand.
“Our children are fortunate to have the opportunity to play hockey at this level and we felt it would be a good life experience for them to give back to the communities that support them,” says Gillian Groening, whose stepson Evan is the team’s captain, “Companies from the region support our team and we wanted them to see that they are supporting a group of young men that understand the value of community and are active supporters of others. It also provides the boys with opportunities to feel good about helping others and to learn that when they join together they can do great things.”
In early December, the team started their community partnership by promoting Tin for the Bin at a home game and raised funds and goods for the Ste. Anne foodbank. A group of 15 boys also wrapped gifts with Niverville Helping Hands on December 18.
Ashley Chamberlain of Helping Hands noted that the boys needed a gift-wrapping tutorial, and after that it was smooth sailing.
“We wrapped gifts for over 50 families,” Chamberlain says. “Some had multiple gifts, so I’m not sure of the exact count, but it was well over 100 gifts! The guys did a great job wrapping, and the evening was a lot of fun.”
Groening says that it was important for the team to find organizations that needed the assistance of volunteers as the holiday season approached.
“Niverville Helping Hands is [an] organization that supports not only Niverville families but also families from other communities in the region,” Groening says. “Our last event in the New Year will be supporting the Steinbach Soup Kitchen. Steinbach is home to five of our players and serves the extended region as well.”
