Oct 31, 2011 | AHarris | 683 views
Hawks Servicing the Community!
Via Bill Doucet of the Cambridge Times: These birds of a feather will be flocking together on Halloween with one goal in mind – help the less fortunate.The Cambridge bantam MD Hawks, along with the coaching staff, some parents and friends, will be going door-to-door on Halloween night to collect non-perishable food items for the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank.The Hawks will be gathering the donations through Meal Exchange’s Trick or Eat program, of which team trainer Brent Thornhill is community organizer for the national program.
Thornhill thought the team would be a good vehicle to gather donations after discussing it with the rest of the coaching staff. Not only would it be a way for the teens to give back to the community, but it would also be a way to show them that not everyone is fortunate to eat three meals a day and be involved in organized sports.
“We’re trying to instill it in them now, because these kids are 14,” Thornhill said.
“Traditionally, Trick or Eat has been a university and college student led campaign, and it still is to an extent, but Meal Exchange has really wanted to expand how many people get involved so they’ve opened it up to youth.
“After a game I pitched the idea to (the players) in the dressing room and they jumped all over it. It just snowballed from there, really.”
With more than 30 people participating as part of the Hawks, Thornhill believes the goal of 2,000 pounds of food is attainable.
To make the donation drive more competitive – they are a hockey team after all – the team will be split into two squads, with one wearing the team’s home jerseys and the other wearing the road jerseys. The team that collects the most food will get to put the other team through some drills at practice.
What about having the losing parents don the blades too for drills?
“We haven’t talked about that, but actually that’s a really good idea. That would be fun to see,” he said with a laugh.
Thornhill said the Hawks will be easily identifiable. Besides their jerseys – just in case other children decide to dress as local hockey players – the Hawks will have name tags on or volunteers will be with someone who has a name tag. Thank you cards will also be handed out, courtesy of Meal Exchange, for donations.
Team members have already canvassed some areas of the city with pamphlets telling residents about the program, while there has already been a social blitz about Trick or Eat.
Last year, 70 communities across the country participated in the program and, according to Thornhill, there will be more than 90 this year.
“It’s a really good opportunity for the kids to give to those who are less fortunate than them.”
Besides going door-to-door, the Hawks have a website set up for monetary donations. The goal was to raise $400 and they’ve almost doubled that, with $796 donated as of Thursday at noon.
Every dollar raised will allow Meal Exchange to donate one meal to the food bank.
To donate online, go to the Hawks donation website at
http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=263057&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=http%3a%2f%2ftrickoreat.ca%2f