By Aaron Bell
The Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors and Belleville Bulls are going pink this weekend for a good cause.
Both teams are celebrating Pink in the Rink to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
“This is obviously a great cause and good opportunity to have some fun while helping to raise some money for Breast Cancer research,” said Bulls’ Marketing Director Kim Grimes.
The Majors will wear special pink jerseys and skate on pink ice during their game on Friday at the Hershey Centre against the Barrie Colts. Former IceDogs’ team owner Don Cherry, along with OHL Commissioner David Branch and Mississauga Mayer Hazel McCallion will be on hand for the opening ceremonies.
“It’s an important community event for us,” Jennifer Duchesne, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s director of development for the Ontario region, told the Mississauga News. “These types of events generate a significant revenue stream for the research we do.”
Fans in Mississauga will have the opportunity to bid on the jerseys and sticks after the game online at www.stmichaelsmajors.com. Last year, the Majors’ event raised $15,000.
“We’re very much a grassroots organization and we’re hoping we won’t see a downturn,” Duchesne said. “We want to keep this up because finding a cure for breast cancer is very important. Unfortunately breast cancer occurs with the same regularity, recession or not.”
Fans in Belleville are encouraged to wear pink to the game on Saturday against the Saginaw Spirit and Bulls’ alum Tyler Donati will be on hand for a special pre-game puck drop. Fans will be able to participate in a live auction after the game to bid on the jerseys worn by the players, officials and Donati. Fans can also purchase limited edition pink hockey sticks signed by the Bulls.
“We are donating part of the proceeds from the ticket sales that night, as well as the jersey auction and a ‘pass the hat’ fund raiser,” said Grimes about the event that is sponsored locally by Rona and has been coordinated with the help of students in the Business Sales and Marketing program at Loyalist College. She expects that the event will raise in excess of $10,000.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun and it gives us a chance to be involved with something that can help people in our community.”
Earlier this season, the Spirit along with the Plymouth Whalers and Erie Otters held similar events to raise money during cancer awareness month in the U.S.
