Eternally Grateful

This is literally Part Two of yesterday's post, but I'd totally be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing sponsors and partners of this inaugural Hockey Helps The Homeless tournament in Winnipeg, and I truly believe that these companies who donated to this event deserve your business after coming through so generously to help the fight against homelessness in Winnipeg. If you support them, they will likely continue to support the end of homelessness in Winnipeg, so it makes sense, right? Of course it does, so let's take a look at the people, organizations and companies who gave so generously in helping the first-ever Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament!

I'll start with the silent auction companies, organizations, and individuals who gave generously to the Hockey Helps The Homeless silent auction that was extremely popular at the tournament!

The prizes that people were bidding on ranged from branded products to signed memorabilia to tickets to sporting and major events in Winnipeg to vacations and trips. These companies, organizations, and individuals contributed in a big way, so remember them when you're looking for holiday gifts this season and beyond. This is an all-star team if I've ever seen one, and the Hockey Helps The Homeless organizing committee is extremely grateful for these companies, organizations, and individuals' amazing generosity!

UPDATE: It seems LEIT Canada was missed in the list of silent auction donations! Check out their linked site on an amazing product!

There were a number of individuals and companies who stepped up and contributed major financial contributions to the tournament through the purchase of a pennant that had the signatures of all the pros who participated in this year's event. These companies and individuals jumped in and said they wanted to be a major part of ending homelessness in Winnipeg, so huge stick-taps to the following companies and individuals!

Make no mistake in that a tournament of this size looking to raise a goal of $100,000 in its first year can always use some additional financial help, and these amazing companies and individuals stepped up in a big way to assist the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament! Stick-taps to these amazing people and organizations!

The team sponsors who stepped up and bought a franchise also need some recognition for their incredible contributions to the tournament. All twelve teams at the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament each had an individual team sponsor who stepped up with a financial contribution in establishing a team in their names, and those sponsors are shown below!

Each of the teams initially has to pay a "franchise fee" before selecting 15 players who raised funds individually to help their respective teams get to the top of the leaderboard in fundraising where they would choose first-overall in the Pro-Am Draft, and I should point out that the Sigfusson Northern/TC Energy team, thanks to a late push in donations, passed Canada Life to move to first overall in the draft standings on Thursday evening to draft first-overall with an incredible $23,263.67 raised! However, all the teams did an absolutely monster job in raising funds, so huge stick-taps to all the team sponsors this year!

There were a pile of amazing companies who jumped into the fray as in-kind sponsors by providing products and services for the players and pros to have and use on game day. Without these businesses who donated products and services to the tournament, the amount that will be given to each of the charities would be less, so these companies deserve a huge thank-you for their help!

These amazing businesses lowered the costs for the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament through their donations of products and services which meant that more of the funds raised would go to the three charities being supported by the tournament in Willow Place, Resource Assistance for Youth, Incorporated (RaY Inc.), and Red Road Lodge. That's entirely the meaning of charity, and these business deserve some big stick-taps as well!

Finally, we need to mention the companies that threw their support behind the tournament in a major way through significant financial donations, product donations, or services donations. I'll mention each one specifically after you see who were our major partners at the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament.

Canada Life, as stated on yesterday's post, is the founding sponsor of Hockey Helps The Homeless, and provides financial support for the charity to be able to go out into communities across Canada and raise money to end homelessness in those communities. The Hilton Garden Inn Winnipeg South generously housed all of our professional hockey players during their stays in Winnipeg. The Pony Corral graciously welcomed the sponsors, VIPs, players, and pros into their downtown location for the Hockey Helps The Homeless Pro-Am Draft while generously feeding all of the invited guests. Seven Oaks Sportsplex played host to the entire tournament and all the events on game day while generously allowing the tournament to occupy both rinks for the entire day. TSN 1290 was the media partner of the tournament while TSN host Andrew "Hustler" Patterson played emcee on Pro-Am Draft Night. Needless to say, these five companies have played a significant role in bringing the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament, and I can honestly say that this likely wouldn't have happened in Winnipeg without the support of these companies.

There are also some special mentions needed. The Portage Collegiate Trojans boys' hockey team were at school on Friday at 4:45am to catch a bus from Portage la Prairie to Winnipeg in order to volunteer their time at the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament. These guys showed up ready to work, and they hauled all the bags for every player to their respective dressing rooms. The Trojans were absolutely incredible in making sure that all players had all their gear, and the Trojans deserve a big shout-out for the early morning and the hard work they gave in making the tournament better!

This is elder Sam Anderson. Sam was gracious in coming down to the Hockey Helps The Homeless Pro-Am Draft to bless the meal the players, pros, sponsors, and VIPs enjoyed as we recognize that the first Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament takes place on Treaty One Territory which is located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation. As part of the Hockey Helps The Homeless Winnipeg tournament, the Winnipeg organizing committee decided early on in their meetings to recognize the ancestral lands of the Indigenous Peoples who called this area home and support inclusion for all by recognizing the treaties signed on these lands in an effort to forge a respectful and meaningful partnership with the Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration. Elder Sam Anderson graciously accepted our invite to the event, and we are grateful for his accepting our invitation.

All of the above people, organizations, and companies made the event yesterday unforgettable, and I'm pretty certain that all will be contacted again for future tournaments as the organizing committee recognizes that this tournament wouldn't have been as successful as it was without all the help we received. From my own unique perspective, I know that seeing all of the people, organizations, and companies come together as they did instills a sense of community in me and a pride that comes from seeing this great city pull together to help the its most vulnerable citizens when they need us most.

Through all the goals scored, the smiles on faces, and the laughter heard on Friday, that's what stands out most to me - seeing Winnipeggers coming out, helping out, and pouring their hearts out to help our community's homeless population when they need it most as we transition into winter. Winters in Winnipeg are never easy on those who are lucky enough to have shelter and food, so seeing these efforts to help those seeking shelter, warmth, and a good meal fills me with pride in knowing that we, as a community, can do great things when we work together.

To Willow Place, Resource Assistance for Youth, Incorporated (RaY Inc.), and Red Road Lodge, I hope the funds raised by this tournament not only help to continue the amazing services you provide, but will go to helping even more people than ever before.

In saying that, thank you, Winnipeg, for everything you've done to help our homeless citizens when they need it most, and for putting the "heart" in "Heart of the Continent".

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!