Meridian Source Photo
Leave it to the Lloydminster hockey community to come together and help those in need.
Border City Connects, which provides transportation for residents with special needs or mobility issues, hosted the 12-hour Play It Forward charity hockey game from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. last Friday with a fundraising goal of $65,000.
The funds were needed to replace a van the non-profit lost in a fire in 2019, and when all was said and done, the charity game brought in roughly $58,000.
“We’re so pleased we raised this amount of money and I’m sure there’s going to be a few pesos more (coming in),” said Border City Connects executive director, Glenn Fagnan.
“It’s great to see the community support, to see these players come out and take their day off work to raise all kinds of funds for us is very heartwarming.
“It’s just another Lloydminster success story on the volunteer side of things to show what the basic fabric of this community is made of; it’s fantastic.”
With $58,000 now set aside for the new van, Fagnan says it’s only a matter of time before taking delivery.
“We’re just waiting for a bit of additional funding. We’re supposed to be getting some from the Saskatchewan government,” he said.
“We’ve got the unit picked out and it’s just a matter of placing the order and it’ll be about 90 days to get the unit here. We’re very excited about it as it’s replacing the unit we lost in a fire before the pandemic.
“We weren’t in need of it the last couple of years but now we are. Things are picking up.”
Fagnan also praised the game’s players for playing their hearts out and going above and beyond their fundraising expectations.
“They’re going to be remembering this for the next couple of days.”
