Thanks to some assists, an RCMP officer and former Vancouver Island University hockey player accomplished his goal, scoring a bounty of hockey gear for a remote community in Canada’s north.
Const. Josh Cook conceived the idea of gathering hockey equipment for youths in Kinngait, Nunavut, after an eight-year-old there had asked to borrow his skates, which were too big for the child. On March 10, Cook and fiancée Katie Isherwood were able to deliver donated equipment to the community, some 3,200 kilometres from Nanaimo, according to an RCMP press release.
Cook called on members of his old hockey team, Nanaimo RCMP officers and other community members, seeking hockey gear donations.
“Most of the hockey equipment in the community is showing its age and sadly, there just isn’t enough to safely outfit the youths who simply love this great game,” Cook said in the press release.
Indigenous youth reap benefits of Mounties love for hockey @WestJet @CanadianNorth #Kinngait @viunews @cityofnanaimo @Nunuvat https://t.co/9a395CILOG
— Nanaimo RCMP (@NanaimoRCMP) March 18, 2022
A collection drive was held in Nanaimo last April to aid Cook’s efforts. While gathering gear was relatively easy, shipping it proved difficult due to flash floods, washed-out roads and snowstorms, the press release said.
Myles Parsons, VIU men’s hockey general manager, brought the gear to Victoria International Airport in January and it was flown to Edmonton, where RCMP there ensured it was delivered to Kinngait. Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien said in the press release that it was a true team effort and he praised partners WestJet Cargo and Canadian North Cargo.
“The result was amazing, tons of youths flooded through the front doors of the Kinngait detachment and within around half an hour all the equipment was gone,” the release noted. “The impact that this gear will have for the youths and the use they will get out of it is huge. They can now play Canada’s game of hockey with a friend on the icy lakes and at the local rink.”
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