NEWS RELEASE: Hockey Helps Kids Launches at Riverbend School

Over 600 kids from across Edmonton help participate

(Edmonton, AB) – Hockey Helps Kids, an exciting, new charitable initiative, launched today with the help of over 600 kids at Riverbend School.

The Hockey Helps Kids initiative, created and funded by the Katz family and administered by the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation (EOCF), provides junior high school students, Grade 7-9, the chance to learn about the importance of being active and positive members of their community.

The Hockey Helps Kids Charity Cup is an innovative and fun annual charity competition which will be piloted during the 2015-16 school year with the EOCF and four local schools in Edmonton. The program raises awareness and funds for a variety of local charities and strengthens the relationship between NHL teams, communities and most importantly, helps students learn the importance of making their community a better place.

In its inaugural year, four local schools have teamed up with four Oilers players to compete in a unique Charity Cup Challenge.

The teams are:

• Team Taylor Hall (A. Blair McPherson School)
• Team Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Florence Hallock School)
• Team Connor McDavid (Killarney School)
• Team Jordan Eberle (Riverbend School)

Through research, interviews, seminars and the collection of data, each school will select a local non-profit organization to support. With help from their Oilers captain, the schools will then develop a video pitch to support their charity and promote votes and awareness. The pitches will be promoted during Oilers games and online during the month of March (2016) and fans will be able to vote for – and donate to – their favourite team/pitch.

The school with the most votes at the end of the Charity Cup Challenge will win $25,000 for their designated charity. The three runners-up will also receive $10,000 for their charities of choice, and all four schools will receive $5,000 for their participation in the program.

Hockey Helps Kids was co-founded by Chloe and Harrison Katz, children of Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz and his wife Renee. Chloe and Harrison set out to explore opportunities to make a difference in the community and decided that there were two things they wanted to focus on: hockey and kids their age. With that, the foundation of Hockey Helps Kids was born.

During the launch at Riverbend School, Chloe and Harrison spoke to the students about their initiative and commitment to the community along with Oilers forward Jordan Eberle – one of four Hockey Helps Kids “captains”.

“When Chloe and Harrison approached us with their idea, we felt it was a perfect match with our mandate to support education and health and wellness for youth,” said Natalie Minckler, EOCF Executive Director. “We’ve been working closely with them, the schools involved and our Edmonton Oilers team captains. We think it is a perfect match to get kids excited about being a force for positive change in their community.”

“We’re very excited to be a part of the inaugural year of Hockey Helps Kids,” said Brad Mamchur, Riverbend School Principal. “We encourage our students to be good citizens, both through kindness and consideration of one another and also through caring about their community. Through projects such as Hockey Helps Kids, where you bring together highly motivated, well-intentioned youth, great things will happen.”

For more information on Hockey Helps Kids, including information on the initiative and participating teams, please visit HockeyHelpsKids.com.

The Hockey Helps Kids Charity Cup challenge will launch in March of 2016, with a winner awarded in early April 2016.

For more information contact:
Tim Shipton
Vice President Corporate Communications
Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club
(780)909-8584
tshipton@edmontonoilers.com