Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre hosted annual Battle of Alberta fundraiser on Wednesday, Aug. 6
Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames players of past and present met at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club to raise money for a good cause.
The Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre hosted its annual Battle of Alberta tournament at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
“This is a major fundraiser for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre,” explained Mark Jones, CEO of the centre, which is located inside the Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence.
“All of our sponsors and donors bid on the celebrity they want to golf with. Then at the Battle of Alberta, we have match play. It’s a great rivalry between the two teams, but today’s all about fun. There’s a trophy at the end of the day. The competition is strong, but ultimately this is all about raising some money to support programming and pay some of the (Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence) building debt off.”
The auction to bid on the players was held on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 5. There was also an after-party celebration scheduled to take place following the tournament on Wednesday. Jones said the hope is to raise $1 million this year.
“This is our fourth Battle of Alberta and the community is very supportive of what we do. There’s no shortage of people here supporting us,” said Jones.
The tournament featured current-day NHL players such as Ryan Lomberg and Dustin Wolf, as well as retired NHLers, including Jari Kurri and Kevin Lowe.
“For me, I watched lots of the guys here today with the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Calgary Flames. We have guys who were part of those championship Oilers teams in the ’80s, too,” said Jones.
“It’s great to see the players my generation grew up with. It’s also great having some of the younger players coming out to be a part of this. Times can get tough in the world, but we can always look to our athletes and sports teams (for some joy), which is an exciting thing.”
The Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre aims to “create opportunities for children who have suffered from child abuse,” Jones noted.
“We want to give them the resources and supports they need in order to regain a life that they richly deserve to have. Those supports and resources really helps them in long-term healing. Having an untreated trauma leads to lots of difficulties down the road as adults,” he said.
For more information on the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre, visit www.centralalbertacac.ca.
