The Sticks and Strings Foundation, founded by NHL player Jordan Eberle and his wife, Lauren Rodych-Eberle, has donated $700,000 to the Calgary Public Library Foundation. The donation will support an outdoor early learning centre at the future Belmont Library, giving children a space to learn and play. “This generous gift from Sticks and Strings Foundation will bring the Outdoor Early Learning Centre at Belmont Library to life,” Calgary Public Library Foundation CEO Tracy Johnson said in a statement. The foundation says all early learning centres at Calgary Public Library locations are funded entirely through donations. Sticks and Strings Foundation supports children’s well-being through philanthropy. The Sticks and Strings Outdoor Learning Centre is scheduled to open when Belmont Library opens in 2027. “We’ve been partnering with Calgary Public Library Foundation on early-learning initiatives since 2022, and this gift is a continuation of that work,” Rodych-Eberle said. “We love spending time together as a family, and we do a lot of that at libraries,” said Eberle. Belmont Library is under construction in the southwest Calgary community of Belmont as part of a multi-purpose development that will also include a City of Calgary fieldhouse. While he was born in Regina, Sask., Eberle went to high school in Calgary, and played with the Calgary Buffaloes. While currently the captain of the Seattle Kraken, he has a home in Calgary and spends plenty of his off season in the city.
