Hockey equipment drive helps to support Indigenous youth with largest collection yet
Saturday's Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive was one of its largest collections of the year, as the campaign seeks to continue making hockey gear more accessible for indigenous communities across the province.
What started as a collection of eight hockey bags and 20 sticks donated to Beausoleil First Nation in 2015 has become a nationwide endeavour.
"From there, every year it doubled," said Graham McWaters, the founder of the Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive.
McWaters estimates that the campaign now gathers 1,000 hockey bags and 2,000 hockey sticks every year for 25 to 35 First Nation communities in Canada. It strives to allow indigenous youth to play hockey even if they cannot afford to do so.
"I'm going to guess that an excess of 5,000 kids have been helped from this program," McWaters added.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
The Richmond Hill hockey dad founded the Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive with the help of fellow hockey parent Rosemarie McKenzie.
"They get to pick the equipment out that fits them, and they get to go to their community rinks or join their community teams," said McKenzie, describing how the recipients react upon receiving their gear. "It's like Christmas."
Thanks to the support of community partners and despite an unwanted taste of wintery weather, Saturday's equipment drive in Barrie collected more than 50 donated hockey bags and 100 donated hockey sticks.
Donated sticks being stored at Saturday’s Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive in Barrie on April 20, 2024 (Mike Lang/CTV News).
Donors drove by throughout the day to drop off their equipment, which included helmets, gloves, shin pads and shoulder pads. McWaters and other volunteers then organized the equipment accordingly into large storage bins, where it will remain until reaching its recipients.
"There's nothing better than putting somebody out on a pair of skates with a stick," McWaters concluded.
Some of the seven storage bins worth of hockey equipment will be delivered to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec next week. The rest will be delivered to Indigenous communities across the province in the fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6973211.1721679351!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
2 Albertans accused of threatening to kill Trudeau, Freeland, Singh
Men from Edmonton and Calgary are accused of threatening to kill some of Canada's top government leaders.
Four suicides in New Zealand linked to Ontario's Kenneth Law
New Zealand's coroner has ruled that four of its citizens died after ordering products from an Ontario man who is facing murder charges for selling poisonous substances.
IN PICTURES Here's what Calgary's new event centre will look like
The name of Calgary’s new event centre was unveiled on Monday. The arena will be called Scotia Place.
Toronto woman charged with voyeurism after taking 'intimate' photos during massage: police
A Toronto woman who allegedly took 'intimate' photos of an individual who was getting a massage has been charged with voyeurism, police say.
Police identify body of man who washed ashore on Nova Scotia's Sable Island
Nova Scotia RCMP has identified one of the bodies found on Sable Island earlier this month.
BREAKING Ottawa Coun. Matthew Luloff charged with impaired driving
Ottawa Coun. Matthew Luloff is facing a charge of impaired driving, according to his lawyer. The Conservative Party tells CTV News Ottawa that Luloff resigned his candidacy on July 10 'due to a personal matter.'
Kamala Harris endorsement excites Democrats, but what could it mean for Canada?
U.S. President Joe Biden's endorsement of Vice-President Kamala Harris as his possible replacement stirred excitement among Democrats, but one analyst has concerns about what a potential Harris presidency would mean for Canada.
These are the four leading vice-presidential picks for Kamala Harris' campaign
No one knows the importance of selecting the right running mate better than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Here's why cyber experts say Canada failed in its response to the CrowdStrike outage
Millions of computers went offline around the world on Friday after a faulty CrowdStrike software update impacted airlines, hospitals, banks and broadcasters. Cyber experts say Canada failed in its response compared to other countries, showing it's vulnerable and ill-prepared for future attacks.