Men’s Hockey Team Lend a Hand to those in Need of Help

‘Tis the season of giving, and the Stingers know a thing or two about giving back to the community that has proudly supports them.
For the seventh year in a row, the Stingers leant their muscles to a good cause at the Mountainside United Church -helping unload over 1,500 boxes of fruit sold as a fundraiser for L’Abri en Ville.
L’Abri en Ville provides aid and support to the mentally ill, and assists them in living an independent life. The money raised from the fruit sale is used to improve patients’ living situation, and to provide fun outings.
Without the Stingers though, the boxes of fruit would never have left the 18-wheeler truck that had backed into the Church’s parking lot.
“I mean it, sincerely, when I say we could not do this without them,” said Marianne Metrakos, a coordinator at L’Abri en Ville.
“These are strong, focused men, and they’re cheerful to help out,” she said. “They always seem to have a good time doing it. We’d break our backs!”
The fundraiser represents approximately $12,000, roughly eight per cent of the organization’s income.
Marc-André Rizk, a veteran forward who has helped unload boxes for four years, says he enjoys helping out whenever he can.
“We get so much support from so many people when we play hockey, it’s nice to do a little community work when we can,” he said.
Make no mistake; the Stingers are teammates on and off the ice. Stacking the boxes in an orderly fashion quickly became a game of how fast the boxes could be unloaded. Friendly chirping broke out between the guys when the ones stacking the boxes became backlogged, as boxes were being catapulted from the truck.
“I think things like this are great for the team, as far as chemistry and building character,” said head coach Kevin Figsby.
“Every year so far, we’ve beat the time record from the previous year,” he laughed. “It started off at four hours, and now we’ve got it down to an hour and a half.”
The Stingers return from the Christmas break with a home showdown against UOIT on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Stingers are currently third in their division.