Kids helping kids, a youth hockey team digs deep to support the community’s less fortunate

The U15 TRAC Wolverines AA hockey team recently held their second annual Christmas-related community giveback. The team focused on supporting the Whitecourt Food Bank, and the Whitecourt Christmas Hamper this year. Last year, the youth hockey club helped sort and prep donations for Rotary’s Koats for Kids.

Getting the players involved in their community is a big deal to the team and the parents. “Doing this brings them all together and gives them something to look forward to each year. It enables them to give back to the community. We are always asking the community for help with either raffle tickets or supporting us in other ways, so this is a way for us to give back,” explained Joel Cote, parent of player Austin Cote.

“You could see the joy on their faces as they piled their donations together. I think they feel pretty good about themselves.” Cote said seeing his son actively participate in such a meaningful event felt good. “I’ve always been trying to give back and do these types of fundraisers for donations, and he’s always been very helpful and eager to jump in and get it done. It’s cool to see him continue that. As a team, I think it’s great that the kids get to work together to try and achieve a goal, and I think they’ve done it. I’m happy for them.”

When asked how he feels being part of it, his son Austin said it made him feel good. “It felt really good to go shopping for other people and get them gifts to help make them happy on Christmas morning. It’s neat that I have no idea who will get the gifts we bought. I think that’s pretty cool.” The young hockey player said that working with his team makes the yearly event special. “I like that we do it together and work together because we can collect more gifts that way.”

Players went out with their families to purchase gifts for the donations, grabbing toys for the Christmas Hamper and food items for the Whitecourt Food Bank. Cote’s teammate Ayden Gaultier said it was important to donate to both organizations, especially at Christmas. “It helps families in need. I think it would feel pretty bad to celebrate Christmas without any presents, so it makes me feel good to know that kids will get to celebrate with presents.”

For player Asher Halliday, the joy he gets from donating means a lot. “I want them to have fun. It wouldn’t feel real without presents. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas. It makes me feel good to help others and give them a good time for Christmas.”

For Christmas Hamper volunteer Val Scott, receiving donations from the youth is special. “Kudos to the boys for stepping up and gathering these gifts for us. It makes us really happy to have the youth part of donating because they really get it now. They realize that they are pretty privileged and that other people aren’t, and they understand that better (through doing this).”

Food bank director Lori Coffey shared the sentiment. “I like it when the youth donate at any given time. I like to bring them into the food bank and show them how it works because they usually don’t fully grasp it until they see it. This is a good start. This makes them understand that there is a need because some kids don’t even know that. Being kind to your community has to happen at every level, kids and adults. These kids doing it shows they are clearly being parented properly because this passes down and is cool to see. We are very grateful.”

As entirely separate entities, the Whitecourt Food Bank and the Christmas Hamper typically don’t do joint events, but in choosing to support both, the U15 TRAC Wolverines brought them together. “When the community takes it upon themselves to be so kind and do fundraisers for us, it’s amazing. Sometimes we don’t even know about the fundraiser until the end. It’s great because every little bit helps. Today, we got to work alongside the Christmas Hamper, which is a rarity but also an enjoyment that we can work together even though we have completely separate programs and do the best for the community,” explained Coffey.