麻豆社区

The Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club is hosting a skate-a-thon Sunday to give back to the community that helped the club recover from a Canada Games Centre fire last summer.

The Rapids will be raising funds for the Kid's Recreation Fund, a Sport Yukon program that provides low-income families an opportunity to apply for funding to allow their children to participate in sports within the territory.

"The Kid's Rec Fund benefits so many young athletes throughout the Yukon that we thought we could help them out with their fund-raising,鈥� said club president Malcolm Taggart.

"The community helped us out tremendously after we lost our safety mats in the Canada Games Centre fire, so we thought that it was time that we gave something back.鈥�

The skate-a-thon will take place from 2:45 to 4 p.m. this Sunday on the ATCO ice surface at the Canada Games Centre.

Depending on their abilities, skaters will have 15 or 30 minutes to skate as many laps as they can, as they are collecting pledges on a per lap basis.

"We are also inviting media representatives and other sports teams, such as hockey and figure skating, as well as some local dignitaries to participate in this challenge,鈥� Taggart said. "If you've got the will to support the great things that the Kids Rec Fund does, we've got the skates for you.鈥�

The club requests that participants bring a helmet, gloves and preferably knee pads.

Now in its 13th year of existence, the Kids Recreation Fund has benefited more than 6,000 Yukon children with over $1.6 million dollars in grants to help pay for registration fees or sports equipment.

Anyone wishing to provide sponsorship can contact Laini Klassen at 668-3384.