Paralympic athletes and Orillia Canadian Tire employees took to the ice at Rotary Place Wednesday afternoon, following the local store’s $15,000 Jumpstart donation to All Sports All People, a local inclusive sports charity.
Founded in 2014, All Sports All People provides disabled people with the equipment, programming, and community required to get involved in a variety of inclusive sports.
“We offer sledge hockey, wheelchair basketball, adapted handbike for kids living with disabilities, whether it be cognitive function or physical limitations. We've been doing that now since 2014, and we've reached over 5,000 children so far,” Wade Beebe, founder of the charity, told OrilliaMatters.
Canadian Tire owners Ed and Valerie Lukezic, who wanted to ensure their Jumpstart campaign benefited athletes in Orillia and the surrounding area, said they love the work All Sports All People does; they plan to partner with the charity moving forward.
“I think it's a great cause and it's an opportunity for us to help a local group and raise just a little bit more awareness in the community about who they are and what they do, and share their successes — they've done incredibly well,” Ed told OrilliaMatters.
“We've partnered now with this particular charity. I certainly think that in the future we will be looking to help others, but I think this will be our primary (cause),” said Valerie.
Based in Orillia, the charity works both locally and with other communities to offer inclusive sports programs. Beebe said the charity has run into a number of challenges through the COVID-19 pandemic, adding the donation will help continue its operations.
“COVID-19 had some pretty bad impacts on our programming, but with community support from the Canadian Tire store, their donation today is allowing us to continue with the programs,” Beebe said.
After the presentation of the cheque, the local employees suited up with Tyler McGregor, captain of Canada’s Para ice hockey team, and Brad Bowden, a gold medalist in both the winter and summer Paralympic games, who put their medal-winning skills on display with employees giving sledge hockey a try for the first time.
“I think that a lot of able-bodied people take for granted the scale and strength and dedication it takes to become an accomplished athlete, and this is an opportunity for some of our staff members to get out there and see just how difficult it is,” said Valerie Lukezic.
McGregor agreed, saying it’s a lot of fun to play sledge hockey with new people.
“It's always interesting and always fun to introduce people to the sport,” he told OrilliaMatters. “It's always important when you're talking about parasport to get people from the outside to try it, and to experience it, and then they have a better appreciation and understanding for it.”
McGregor and Bowden, who both work with All Sports All People, stressed the importance of athletic opportunities for disabled people and able-bodied people alike.
“There’s lots of families that go through adversity every day, and I'm sure there's somebody out there that has had their life changed and isn't physically able to do something that they used to love to do,” said Bowden.
“I think just being out on the ice and playing sports, and having that outlet to be physically active, whether we're able-bodied or disabled, is just good for your overall well-being," Bowden added.
“We're trying to introduce more inclusive sports programs, so (the donation) really just allows us to travel around and to work with people hands-on and introduce them and give them an opportunity to play,” McGregor said. “I think it's important for young kids to just get out and play sports, meet new friends, be social, and really enjoy all the amazing things about sports.”
Local Canadian Tire employee Maddy Oschefski said it’s rewarding to see the fundraising done at her store translate into noticeable impacts in her own community.
“Everything comes back to Orillia, everything stays local, and I guess that's what we really like about Jumpstart is that we get to see everything happen,” she told OrilliaMatters. “Everything comes back to the community instead of other charities where you hear about it, but you don't get to necessarily see it.”
