Last weekend, the Yorkton RawTec Maulers of the Saskatchewan AAA Hockey Club played two games at the Farrell Agencies Arena, but they weren鈥檛 in their normal orange, white and black jerseys.
Instead, the Maulers unveiled brand new pink jerseys. Their two games were part of the annual Paint the Rink Pink event, which is a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.
The event was started last year and was inspired by Terri Shea, a Mauler parent, who was battling breast cancer. The entire Maulers team supported her, and wanted to expand their support to others with the disease in the community.
Kylie Bielka, the organizer of the fundraiser, said the money they raise stays right here in Saskatchewan.
鈥淲e donate to different parts of breast cancer,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes it can go to the home where [patients] stay when they鈥檙e having treatments. The final decisions on where the money goes are left up to 鈥榯eam Terri鈥�.鈥�
Bielka said they raised just under $12,000 over the weekend. There was a silent auction that was compiled of donated items from around the community, cash donations and a jersey auction at the end for the special pink jerseys.
While a large portion of the events鈥� earnings is donated, the organizers wanted to make it clear that some of what is fundraised stays with the team for future costs. The money raised through the jersey auction, in particular, stays with the team.
Graham Garrett, head coach of the RawTec Maulers, said the community support shown this weekend was what it鈥檚 all about.
鈥淔or us, we pride ourselves on being a positive influence in the community as an organization. This is just part of what we want to be known as, being a strong community team,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great weekend all around and I don鈥檛 think too many of these ever have too many negatives to them, and I think this weekend, it was all positive.鈥�
