While the game ended in a loss for Newmarket’s Jr. Panthers on Saturday, there was still a lot to celebrate as they held the closing ceremonies for the She Shoots She Saves campaign.
The Central York Girls Hockey Association (CYGHA) officially wrapped up their fundraiser, which raises money to purchase automated external defibrillators (AED) for public places in Newmarket and Aurora. The mayors of both towns attended the event at the Ray Twinney Recreation Complex. There was also a shoot-off between Rebecca Vint and Jamie Dailey.
In the second year of the She Shoots She Saves campaign, 210 athletes participated with teams and coaches from across the CYGHA taking part.
“Participation has gone up, we’ve had over 91,000 shots taken,” said Patricia Murphy, who is one of the directors of the association.
So far they have raised $14,110, which will buy two AEDs. Their original goal for the campaign is $20,000 which would allow them to get one more defibrillator.
Murphy said even if they don’t hit that goal, the campaign is “100 per cent a success.” However, the online donation page will remain open until the end of this week in hopes they will reach their goal.
“It’s definitely a success. Even just the lessons the girls have learned about community,” she said. “It’s a great initiative and I think it really teaches them about community and giving back.”
The closing ceremonies took place along with the game on March 5 between the Jr. Panthers and Durham West Lightning, which Murphy said are the top two teams in their division.
Unfortunately, the home team lost to the Lighting one to five.
“It was a hard loss but to have the top two teams playing on Saturday was pretty impressive,” Murphy said.
