Hockey equipment donation drive for First Nation communities to be held Saturday

Retired hockey dad Graham McWaters wants to make sure every Indigenous child in Ontario has the opportunity to play hockey and he wants them to have the proper equipment.

He'll be in Kitchener Saturday to collect new and used equipment for the First Nation Hockey Equipment Drive which is now in its fifth year.

"We take all the hard goods, from helmets right down to the skates," said McWaters. "We take goalie equipment and [hockey] bags."

The organization McWaters' started, collects hockey equipment for kids as young as 4 who are learning to skate to experienced players in their late teens.

McWaters' group has teamed up with another charitable organization called Their Opportunity which collects financial contributions. 

The drive started after a hockey trip with his own kids at a tournament in Midland. McWaters struck up a conversation with a man fixing a helmet for a little boy. He noticed there was no mask on that helmet.

"When I walked inside the rink, I saw other children waiting to get into their dressing room with plastic bags, small duffel bags, and small overnight bags," McWaters said. 

"Some of them were carrying two or three bags with their [hockey] equipment."

Contact numbers were exchanged and the collection drive started with his son's team. They collected eight hockey bags of equipment that were sent to the Beausoleil First Nation in Midland.

Since then the drive has grown every year, says McWaters, who says last year they distributed 500 bags to 25 communities.

This year, the goal for his group is to collect 700 hockey bags of new and used equipment that will benefit children in 35 First Nation communities in the province.

The drive takes place Saturday between 10:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m in parking lot G at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. 

Kitchener is one of a few stops for the drive. They'll deliver all the equipment they collect next August.