Taking a shot

The Regional Food Distribution Association scored in a big way with the help of the Thunder Bay North Stars.

Players of the Junior ‘A’ hockey team gave some pointers on how to shoot at Intercity Shopping Centre on Saturday. Children lined up to shoot some pucks at a small target in order to win some free tickets. The team came out to support of the RFDA as well as promotes the Dudley Hewitt Cup.

RFDA Executive Director Volker Kromm said they usually have a hard time collecting food donations after Christmas because people stop giving. Over the past couple of years, organizations have stepped up to help bring more awareness and bring more food to the banks, he said.

‘This is going to be very helpful because this time of year our warehouses are starting to empty,” Kromm said. “Some of the larger food banks have a reserve after Christmas but some of the food banks now are working from month to month. Every opportunity where the community steps up will help to plug our holes.”

Despite having truckloads of donations throughout the holidays, Kromm said the smaller food banks do need help. With 32 memberships, Kromm said they are reaching the point where they won’t be able to fill of the food banks.

He added that the event was more focused on raising awareness but expected many donations at the North Stars games as a non-perishable food item is admission into the January games.

North Stars Captain Sam Dubinsky said the games were a great opportunity for everyone to get to know whom they are and promote the RFDA and the tournament.

“Having the crowd is almost like having that sixth man on the ice,” Dubinsky said. “We get a huge boost. Doing things like this really help and you can see our attendance numbers are the best in the league and it hasn’t been like that in four or five years.”

Dave Vaillant, co-chairman of the Dudley Hewitt Cup Tournament, said it was the North Stars’ turn to host the tournament in April and have started promoting the tournament since December.

“We’re out in the community to raise awareness so we can bring some partners on board to make this a success,” Vaillant said. “We play in a huge arena and it’s hard to fill that. For us to be solvent we need about 700 to 800 people. To get that we need to have events like this.”