THUNDER BAY – Camp Quality raising funds for kids. Last weekend, ( April 11th– 14th ) for the 5th year Camp Quality N.W.O. was busy at the Knights of Columbus( KC) 3 on 3 Tourney at the Tournament Centre and Fort William First Nations Arena. From Kenora to Kapuskasing, 91 teams were registered in 9 divisions for the exciting game of 3 on 3. Players aged 8-15 strutted their stuff on the ice in their new team shirts with creative names.
Camp Quality helps kids
When CQNWO was approached 5 years ago about creating a partnership, there was quite a learning curve, but we had KC’s support and yearly we have seen the funds raised grow. KC would organize the tourney and CQNWO would arrange for the program, sell it, provide some auctions, draws and collect donations at the door and organize their own volunteers to do all this. On May 10th our Knights of Columbus Hockey League friends will contribute some extra funds and the total will be announced then. Despite Camp Quality’s public appearance, we are a small but mighty crew. A huge thank you to volunteers who took upwards to 4 shifts to help make this happen.
As the event, the planning was made even better when our “ship came in” by way of some hockey celebrity donations. Katie Weatherston donated a signed Team Canada jersey. Katie’s parents have assisted Camp Quality for a few years with pontoon boat rides. Trevor and Amy Letowski, have been friends of CQNWO for a number of years, donating half the proceeds of their Shag to our charity. Being one of two charities that benefited from these proceeds was amazing.
We found a way to assist at the event and since then our friendship has continued. Trevor came to summer camp and joined in on the limo rides, being a great sport in wearing a boa and rock star glasses. The Letowski’s donated a signed print of Alex Galchenyuk. Amy attracted the attention of Eric and Tanya Staal. They donated an autographed original Staal jersey. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate all our donors acts of kindness.
Our Penny Auction was a popular place and in a few hours a profit of $1110 was attained. While these items could have been auctioned differently, it was our hope that every ticket buyer could feel that they could win. The anticipation when the tickets were drawn was intense and Dave Mullner won the Staal jersey, Gordon Maki took home the Galchenyuk print and the Weatherston Team Canada jersey went to Bob Smith.
This event came on the heels of the announcement of the “Camp Quality Hair Raiser”. Comments from those that follow us were right. We were having a really good week and the kindness of the community & region continues with other fundraisers popping up in support of our cause.
Camp Quality is a non-profit, volunteer organization that, in addition to our signature week-long camping experience, provides year-round support for children with cancer (receiving treatment or in remission) and their families.
For now and till May 30th you can support Camp Quality N.W.O through George Badanai’s event. Find it on Facebook at the Camp Quality Hair Raiser.
