Winnipeg hockey community scores one for Uganda school

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This article was published 02/05/2022 (1263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local hockey players have teamed up with charity organization Ramona’s Reach to fund a school in Uganda, as well as clean drinking water, healthy meals and sports equipment.

Ramona Reimer, for which the organization is named, had a similar goal.

Reimer, 26, died in 2009, after an almost three-year battle with cancer. Her family continued her dream by building and maintaining a faith-based orphanage and education centre in Pamora, Uganda.

“A lot of people when they graduate, they get a car or something but Ramona just wanted to go work at an orphanage, which kind of shows how incredibly giving she was of herself,” said Ray Petkau, chief executive officer of Alpha Hockey Inc. and Reimer’s uncle.

The NHLPA agent described the nurse as “an incredible young woman.”

“There’s not too many people at that age whose life goal is to work in an orphanage. But she didn’t really care too much where she went, just wherever kids needed her.”

After his niece got sicker, Petkau helped run a “unique little fundraiser”: a 24-hour hockey game to raise money for her cancer treatments at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S.

“(Ramona) was around as much as possible. She felt terrible. She had been going through the chemo treatments, had no hair at the time and was just completely beaten down and sick… But she was there most of the night.”

Prior to her treatments, Reimer was just as invested in sports as other family members.

“She was a fierce competitor. She was really cool,” said Petkau.

Specifically, Reimer was a fan of her childhood friend and cousin-in-law, NHL goalie James Reimer. “She didn’t look like the type to get mean and stuff, but she’d throw out a body check if you were playing floor hockey or that kind of thing, it was an awesome part of her personality.”

Winnipeg Jets goalie Eric Comrie was inspired to join the Ramona’s Reach initiative because of Petkau’s passion for the project.

“I think all my best memories came from playing sports with my family in our backyard and just really enjoying street hockey,” said Comrie.

He recalled the first time he played net against his older brothers, and said he hopes his contributions do the same for Ugandan youth.

Comrie, who was three or four at the time, wanted to spend time with his brothers, the oldest of which was 15. He remembers his eldest brother saying “you’re never gonna stop me,” and then shooting the puck. Comrie looked down to see the puck in his glove.

“One of my brothers grabbed me and put me up on his shoulder and started carrying me around the gym, celebrating,” said Comrie, who described the day as one of the “best moments of his whole life.”

“Whenever I’m having a bad day, I just remember how much fun I had as a kid playing this game with my family.”

It’s vital for the hockey players involved, as well as Petkau, that the Ugandan children their money goes to will have similar experiences. The initiative has since raised enough they were able to expand the fundraiser to include sports equipment and uniforms.

“It’s been fantastic for (the children) and I’ve just been so proud of the stuff (the organization) has been able to achieve,” said Comrie. “To get those matching uniforms, we just had a task and every time I look it just warms my heart every time I see a picture.”

Petkau and the Alpha Sports team don’t want the initiative to come across as “hey, look at us patting ourselves on the back;” it’s about inspiring other people to help, whether it’s through Ramona’s Reach or some other charity that “does great work,” he said.

“It’s not about how we feel, that’s just kind of a byproduct of it, right?” said Petkau.

“There’s some satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping other people. So I remind our guys that there’d be a whole bunch of kids who wouldn’t be able to go to school every day, and in this case, it’s not just school.”

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca