Polar Bears do good deeds

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/02/2019 (2626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Locked as we are in a mind-numbing, bone-chilling deep freeze, I thought today might be the perfect time to warm our hearts — along with the rest of our internal organs — by doing something to help our community.

Or at least help someone else — by which I mean a group of kind-hearted, hockey-loving girls — do something to help the most vulnerable members of our community, the homeless.

I latched onto this genius idea a few days ago when I received a heart-tugging email from Kristie Pearson, who, like me, sits on the board of the Riverview Health Centre Foundation.

“I know you are super busy but I thought I would let you all know that our daughter’s hockey team has made the semifinals for the Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup. I think Winnipeg should get behind this!” Kristie wrote.

It turns out Kristie’s daughter, Aleta Pollard, is a member of the Winnipeg Polar Bears, an all-girls peewee hockey team that was selected from about 100 teams from around the country as one of the 10 finalists for the Good Deeds Cup, a national competition in which the automaker and Hockey Canada reward youth teams for their contributions in their community.

You may recall how warm and fuzzy we all felt last year when The Pas Huskies demonstrated their huge hearts and incredible hustle by winning the Good Deeds Cup, earning a $15,000 prize for Oscar’s Place, a homeless shelter in The Pas that was on the verge of closing.

This week, we — by which I mean you, the compassionate readers of this newspaper — have a chance to help the Polar Bears, a group of plucky 11- and 12-year-old girls, win $100,000 for Winnipeg’s Siloam Mission, a one-stop shop for the homeless, offering a shelter, a medical clinic and a host of programs and services.

“It would be nice for Siloam to get the funds,” is what Aleta’s mom, Kristie, told me in her email. “As a parent who values volunteering and philanthropy in our city, I couldn’t be more proud. I love seeing our young people step up to help out people who are less fortunate. I believe that it’s important for these girls, who live in comfort, to feel compassion for others and to want to do something about it.”

It all began late last year when the girls donated the $410 they raised through a bake sale to Siloam, spent a day volunteering at the shelter, and collected something like four garbage bags worth of winter clothing for Siloam’s homeless clients.

To enter the Good Deeds Cup, they had to submit a short video describing their “good deed” — you can also go watch it at chevrolet.ca/hockey/good-deeds-cup.html — and at the recent NHL all-star game it was announced their video was one of 10 chosen to move into the semifinals.

As my friend Kristie pointed out, simply by making the semifinals the Polar Bears — the only all-girls team, as well as the only team from Manitoba to make the cut — earned $2,000 for the homeless shelter, along with a prize package for the players.

Now the girls need as many people as possible to view the YouTube video of their efforts to become one of three peewee teams picked for the finals, with each finalist earning another $5,000 for their chosen charity.

The last team standing in the Good Deeds Cup will receive $100,000 for their charity, along with a winner’s ceremony in their hometown, and a feature on broadcast television.

What this means is that you — yes, you, the philanthropic readers of this column — have until Saturday, Feb. 9 to watch the Bears’ video at chevrolet.ca/hockey/good-deeds-cup.html to propel them to the championship and make a big difference in the lives of Winnipeg’s homeless.

Which explains why Kristie emailed me, and why I am writing today’s column.

The more views their “good deed” video gets online, the bigger the donation they’ll be able to give to Siloam, which is in the middle of an important fundraising campaign.

The proud mom noted her daughter is buddies with Heather Kirk, 11, who plays defence for the Bears and was the driving force behind her team helping Siloam.

“We hope that everybody votes for it because we hope we can raise more money,” Heather told CBC News. “It’s for a good cause. It doesn’t take very long to just watch a one-minute video.”

Of course, I’m expecting most of you, just like me, will watch this minute-long video multiple times to boost the Bears’ chances of making a gigantic donation to a local charity that needs every dollar it can get.

Remember: Views on their video will be counted as votes until Feb. 9. Considering how (bad word) cold it has been lately, I’m thinking it would be nice for everyone within the sound of my voice to curl up in front of a cosy computer and watch a group of girls with a passion for an icy sport do something that will warm your heart.

You can consider that your good deed for the day.

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca