Playing ball hockey for charity

The first annual Charity Ball-ACCESS U hockey tournament was held this past Saturday, raising over $800 for charity projects including a library restoration in Haiti by the ACCESS U charity.

The tournament was held in the St. Michael’s parking lot, which remains open despite construction and featured a live DJ to keep participants pumped. Seven Shores cafe in Waterloo donated hot chocolate and Red Bull donated three 24-packs of the popular energy drink to participants and organizers.
General manager of ACCESS U, Sean Gardiner, was ecstatic about the result.

“The tournament itself was great, all in all everything went great. We ran it from 10 a.m. to past 5 p.m. and everybody had a good time.” ACCESS U is a student-organized group that raises money to support education for children in developing countries.

Eight teams participated, including championship winners the Blackout Drunks who won tickets to their choice of Laurier Athletics game and championship t-shirts, along with a free trip to the Red Bull DJ Competition in Toronto at Sound Academy following the tournament.

President of ACCESS U Jon Pryce spoke to the success of the event.

“Charitable organisations at Laurier need to team up more often, to break down that barrier that most charities have. That’s what Charity Ball and ACCESS U are trying to do.” The event was planned and run as a joint fundraiser to raise money for both projects.

Charity Ball, which raises money every year for a chosen local charity, will donate their portion of the funds raised to the Grand River Hospital Foundation.

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