MALLAIG – A charity hockey game at the Mallaig Arena on Feb. 7 collected a truckload worth of food for the St. Paul Food Bank and raised money for École Mallaig School’s Student Compassion Fund.
Over $600 worth of funding was raised for each the food bank and the school’s fund.
Organized by Cst. Zachary Noseworthy and Mallaig School Principal Kellie Handford, the event was meant to promote youth recreation but also offer local RCMP an opportunity to be involved with the community, said Noseworthy.
“There was so much interest, right away,” from the students at Mallaig School, as well as the Mallaig Fire Department, he explained. “From there, it just turned into this outpouring of community support.”
“We really enjoy doing stuff like this . . . getting involved in the community and raising money . . . because we need to help where we can too,” said Noseworthy.
Cst. Joseph Desrosiers, who played goalie for the RCMP team, commended the team put together by the Mallaig Fire Department and Mallaig School.
“There are a few young kids out there giving all the old guys a run for their money.”
Desrosiers added, “I would say that we definitely squeaked one out there. But I think it wasn't exactly our best performance . . . But I had a good day.”
The small community arena was packed for the Friday afternoon match-up.
“[Mallaig] is a very giving and a very strong community,” said Desrosiers.
St. Paul RCMP detachment commander Dennis Silliker said when the idea for a charity game was raised, he appreciated the initiative and interest shown by officers.
“Our members are doing a lot of work,” he said, even within their own personal time and outside the boundaries of being RCMP officers, in an effort to give back to the community. “I don't want the great work that these folks are doing to be missed.”
Silliker has spoken repeatedly about the importance of community engagement and building relationships within the community, and the event provided one of those opportunities.
“Of course, we couldn't do it without the community's support,” he said.
According to Silliker, the detachment hopes to do the event again next year and, “We’ll see if we can manage another show.”
