The Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive was back in full swing in Barrie Saturday morning, delivering truckloads of new and used gear to Indigenous communities across the province. After a simple observation by Graham McWaters, founder, at a Midland, Ont. hockey tournament, the initiative is now in its eleventh year and supports more than a thousand Indigenous athletes annually with the gear that they need to play Canada’s game. “This started off as something from the heart,” said Graham McWaters, a Richmond Hill, Ont. hockey dad. “It still is, but now it’s turned into a passion, a part-time job, and we have so many people helping us.” The Barrie South Access Storage facility has become one of the hubs for the equipment drive, with regular equipment drop-off and pickup days. Saturday morning was another successful pickup day. “We have 16 communities coming here to pick up over 500 bags of gear and a thousand hockey sticks, and tons of new gear,” confirmed McWaters. The communities included Oneida Nation of the Thames, Manitoulin Island, Walpole Island First Nation and Georgina Island First Nation. An OPP officer from Timmins picked up gear for Manitoulin Island, while Julie Virgoe, a family wellbeing worker for Georgina Island First Nation, picked up gear for her community. “We are remote,” said Virgoe, referring to the challenges of accessing Georgina Island exclusively by ferry. “We have barriers to getting equipment and getting our kids over so that’s why this is helpful for us as well.” Related Articles: McWaters credited the equipment drive’s partners, such as ‘Their Opportunity,’ and Access Storage, for allowing them to manage what they do ‘at the rate that they do.’ “Over the years, we’ve been able to donate over $2 million worth of equipment to this project,” said Randy Gill, president and CEO of ‘Their Opportunity.’ “We supply eight storage units to allow this charity to function all year-long and we’re very proud and happy to be a part of this,” said Laurie Book, Access Storage regional manager. After getting all the gear picked up from their Barrie storage units, McWaters says the plan is to bring all the gear from their Whitby storage units to Sudbury. Then, with upwards of five planned equipment drives in the coming months, he expects the Barrie storage units to be full of donated equipment again by December. By the end of this month, the Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive will have delivered cumulative total estimates of 6,000 bags and 10,000 sticks to 70 communities across the country. “Everybody asks me, ‘why do I do this?’ It’s all about the kids,” concluded McWaters. With files from CTV’s Julianna Balsamo.
