MANITOBA MOOSE IN THE COMMUNITY
Paying it Forward
By: Kory Harnum Photos by Zach Peters and Jonathan Kozub
It has been a busy summer for the Manitoba Moose as they continue to give back to the community. Throughout the 2016-17 season, the Moose partnered with various community groups through in-game initiatives, in an effort to raise funds to support their specific cause. The off-season has allowed time to follow up with each organization and present a cheque to them with the funds that were raised.
The Manitoba Moose donned five different speciality jerseys this past season, which were either worn during the pre-game warmup or in-game. Following the game, the jerseys were auctioned off and the proceeds benefitted the partnered organization for that game.
In December, the Moose partnered with the provincial Children’ s Wish Foundation chapter to host Star Wars Day. During the pre-game warmup, the Moose players wore Star Wars themed jerseys and Conor Pisni-Ray, a Children’ s Wish Recipient, participated in a ceremonial puck drop prior to the start of the game. In July, a cheque for $ 5,120 was presented to the Children’ s Wish Foundation by Moose VP of Operations
Dan Hursh and Community Relations Manager Kory Harnum.
The Moose showed their appreciation to the Fire Fighters of the province during their January 15th game when they wore special edition firefighter themed jerseys. The jerseys were auctioned both at the game and online and, combined with a special ticket offer, a cheque for $ 8,232.53 was presented to the Manitoba Fallen Firefighter Foundation.
In February, the Assiniboine Park Zoo partnered with the Manitoba Moose for the Polar Bear jersey night. The jerseys were worn during the game to bring awareness to the Polar Bear Rescue Team, a group of animal care professionals that are called to action when there are polar bear cubs in need of rescue. Between the jerseys auctioned in-game and online, a total of $ 5,793.72 was raised and a cheque presentation is scheduled to take place prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
March featured speciality jerseys in two separate games during the eight game home stand. The Moose faced the Toronto Marlies on March 12th, where they wore replica jerseys worn by the Manitoba Moose during the 1996-97 season. The jerseys were auctioned off and a cheque for $ 5,577.48 was presented to Hockey Manitoba in early August to assist with their grassroots and development programming. The Moose also partnered with the St. Amant in March to promote the team’ s Autism Awareness Month and during the March 24th game, the players wore Autism Awareness-themed jerseys, which were later auctioned off. In addition, puzzles were sold on the concourse throughout the month, featuring five different Moose players. Sales from the puzzles and the game-worn jerseys were combined and a cheque for $ 15,364.24 was presented to the St. Amant Foundation to support the Autistic classrooms at the St. Amant Centre.
In total, over $ 40,000 was given back to local community organizations this past season through the Manitoba Moose jersey auctions, which was only possible because of Moose fans and their commitment and support for these causes. It is always exciting to partner with community and not-for-profit organizations and we look forward to the upcoming season and the opportunity for new speciality jerseys.
76 | GAME ON | SEPTEMBER 2017