Skate North program back for 18th year

Whitecourt, AB, Canada / XM 105

Feb 23, 2021

Erika Chorostil

A local initiative that collects used hockey and skating equipment for children in need in Canada’s north is back again this year.

The annual Skate North program is now in its 18th year, and founder Bob Walker started it after a trip up north to the territories where he noticed children in those communities couldn’t afford proper hockey equipment because the cost of living is so high. He decided to collect used equipment and take it up to those communities with the help of a group of volunteers.

This year, Walker is once again asking for people to donate used hockey equipment or figure skates to local thrift stores in Whitecourt, Mayerthorpe, and Onoway, as well as Echo Society in Whitecourt.

“We get a fair amount,” says Walker. “Even in these bad times, in these COVID times, there’s still a lot of stuff coming in.”

Walker says he has already picked up donations in Onoway and will now be picking up in Mayerthorpe this Wednesday, February 24, and in Whitecourt on Thursday. The donations will then be shipped off next week.

“If anyone’s got some hockey equipment, bring it to the thrift shop in Whitecourt or Mayerthorpe, whichever is closest to you,” Walker says.

Usually, the donations make it to the territories. This year, due to travel restrictions preventing access to Canada’s north, Walker says children in northern Alberta will benefit from the donated equipment.

“This year we can’t get into the north because of the quarantine. So what I’m going to do is send it to the big Sports Palace in Edmonton and get with the Dave Semenko Foundation, who used to be an Oiler, and send it to northern Alberta to all the northern Alberta kids who need it,” Walker explains.

-Erika Chorostil.