Dubois gives back to community

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This article was published 16/01/2023 (1016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Many know Pierre-Luc Dubois, the hockey player. Now meet Pierre-Luc Dubois, the philanthropist.

The Winnipeg Jets forward took the opportunity Monday while in Montreal, where he and his teammates are set to take on the Canadiens at the Bell Centre Tuesday, to formally announce his new foundation. The Pierre-Luc Dubois Foundation is taking over for what used to be the foundation run for years by Vincent Lecavalier — a veteran of 1,212 NHL games who, like Dubois, is from Quebec.

Dubois, who grew up in Ste. Agathe des Monts, Que., spoke at a news conference in Montreal Monday afternoon.

“When I was a kid growing up in Rimouski, Vincent Lecavalier, who played for the Oceanic (QMJHL) junior team there, he had a foundation that helped kids that didn’t necessarily have the money to play hockey, whether it be the equipment, the registration fee, finding ice, all that stuff,” Dubois said. “So, my best friend, his dad was the one that ran the tournament, golf tournament, every year. I grew up going to that. Me and my three best friends we had a group and before all the adults went, we’d play.”

Dubois added: “As I got older and older that’s always something I had in my mind, seeing what he did for the region down there was something that really inspired me. So, when I got the opportunity, when he retired the foundation and took a break, they didn’t know necessarily what direction they were going to go. And I wanted to jump in and maybe be that next step where it became my foundation.”

The Vincent Lecavalier Foundation raised more $1 million over its 20 years of operation. Dubois hopes he can now take over and build on that legacy, while making the foundation his own.

The COVID-19 pandemic really threw a wrench into the foundation’s plans, but the hope is to get things back up and running this year. That means having a golf tournament this summer, the same one Dubois used to participate in as a kid.

“Vincent and the whole team was great, really nice and helpful,” said Dubois. “With COVID the past two years we haven’t really been able to do the tournament, so our last one was three years ago. And this summer we’ll be back for hopefully a great event.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton