Fredericton Hockey Franchise Raising Money For Hospital’s Covid-19 Fund
FREDERICTON – Fredericton Junior Red Wings, the city’s junior ice hockey franchise, is raising money for The Chalmers Foundation while saying thank you to the frontline workers at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital.
The Hockey Helps Healers Campaign offers packages of four window decals at $35 each including tax, with three decals going to hospital workers and one to the buyer. All proceeds go to the Chalmers Foundation’s Giving Hearts Covid-19 Support Fund.
Roger Shannon, the President and CEO of the Fredericton Red Wings, said the idea is an extension of initiatives the franchise has taken part in to support frontline staff nationally, as well as to support a fund for the victims of the Nova Scotia shooting. They chose the Chalmers Foundation because they wanted to do something locally in Fredericton.
“I called up Gilles [Allain] one day at the Chalmers Foundation and I said, it would be nice to do something local,” he said.
Besides, with team sports and large gatherings banned for now, the Maritime Junior A Hockey League team’s staff don’t have much to work on.
“[The campaign] is keeping a few of us busy with something to do. Nobody’s working. It keeps us in the minds of our local fans and stuff. It’s strictly about staying active and staying in the community,” Shannon said.
The campaign has sold about one-third of the 3,000 decals it aims to sell for all of those campaigns, including the one for the Chalmers Foundation. So far, Shannon said more than $2,000 has been raised for the Chalmers Foundation, which raises funds for hospitals in the Fredericton area to put towards equipment, education and special treatment programs.
Gilles Allain, the foundation’s executive director, said the Red Wings’ initiative is helping in two ways.
“This allows the community to say thank you to those on the frontlines,” he said. “The second piece is the fundraising, which for us is important because the money that is raised, we hold and if the hospital needs something, we can say yes right away, within reason.”
For instance, money from the Giving Hearts fund has been used to buy tablets for isolated patients so they can connect with family and friends, vouchers that staff can use at the hospital’s cafe, and two chest compression devices for patients in the emergency room.
Giving Hearts has raised almost $20,000, Allain said, including $10,000 from the national Frontline Fund. The Chinese business and cultural communities in Fredericton also donated a significant amount, Allain said.
Funds raised by the Red Wings “will top up what we’ve already spent” out of the Giving Hearts fund, he said.
“We definitely thank our donors who recognize the importance of healthcare and our healthcare workers n the community. We are there as a foundation to act as a conduit for that. Donors who want to show appreciation, that’s what they do, they approach us and make a contribution,” he said.
“We are there to applaud the workers on the frontline and we thank the community for stepping up and helping out.”