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Chamber of Commerce and Calgary Flames announce Southern Alberta Flames Family Day game

Jan 3, 2019 | 1:23 PM

LETHBRIDGE – This Family Day could see a lot more traffic on Highway 2 between Lethbridge and Calgary thanks to a new partnership announced on Thursday, Jan. 3.

The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce and the Calgary Flames will be putting on the Southern Alberta Flames Family Day game, which will be held on Monday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Scotiabank Saddledome when the Flames battle the Arizona Coyotes.

OJ Pries, an Account Executive with the Flames, is from Lethbridge and grew up in Coaldale. He’s got familiarity with people from the Chamber from his days working with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and a couple other teams before eventually ending up in Calgary.

“Because I’ve been here and lived here, I wanted to come up with something that would help give back to the community. So, we started a fundraiser that will help support the local charities, help the Chamber, and help the people of Lethbridge come to the game.”

The partnership focuses on supporting local charities including the McMan Homelessness Initiative, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Coaldale Kinsmen Club, and the University of Lethbridge Pronghorn Hockey Alumni through a ticket fundraiser.

Each ticket purchased through the Southern Alberta Flames Family Day offer will have $5 returned directly to the Southern Alberta Community.

Helping to give back means a lot to Pries because he knows how much value these charities have to the community.

“And how much the community depends on these charities,” he continued. “They help to erase things like homelessness, and to help the Pronghorns get their games off the ground.”

Anyone who’s made the drive between Lethbridge and Calgary knows it’s a pretty quick trip all things considered, but to attend a hockey game on a weeknight can be tough. It’s something Pries sympathizes with.

“I know from living here how tough it is to go to a game, especially if it’s a late-night game or a weekday game due to the two hours up and the two hours driving back. We actually had the opportunity to have a couple of afternoon games this year, so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to raise some money for the charities and allow people who may not usually be able to go due to work or other obligations attend a game,” Pries stated, adding it will help benefit everybody.

That’s the personal connection for one of the people involved, but from the Flames perspective why was it important to get groups in Lethbridge involved?

“Because it’s Southern Alberta,” Pries responded.

“It’s a market that we can tap into to help people come to the games, and it helps grow our support level as well. If we can grow our market outside of Calgary into Southern Alberta it just helps us out, helps the charities out, and it helps people come to games.”

Nicole Geske, Chamber of Commerce Vice President, believes the partnership is fantastic for the city.

“The chamber focuses on all sorts of aspects of the business community, but we don’t forget about the philanthropy side as well.

“This is that connection for us because we have a committee dedicated to philanthropy and this is just icing on the cake because we get to help the community grow and build which is making Lethbridge a better place. I think it’ll be a big draw because it’s an afternoon game, and on top of that it’s Family Day which is a great day to bring people together.”

As far as the possibility of more from the partnership in the future, Geske sure hopes there’s more.

“I think Lethbridge, we are close to Calgary, so to have that draw and to be able to bring people up to the game is pretty exciting,” she explained. “It’s even more exciting to give back to the community, and I think both organizations benefit from this.”

Not just the Chamber of Commerce and the Calgary Flames either, the big winners could be the charities involved depending on turnout and ticket sales.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lethbridge and District Executive Director Jen Viser says January and February can be tough months when it comes to donations, so any visibility the organization can get is positive.

“I think it’s very fitting for Big Brothers Big Sisters to be a part of something like this,” Viser added when asked about the relevance of it taking place on Family Day.

Damon Van Ginneken, Programs Manager of McMan Youth Family and Community Services Association, called this partnership a fantastic opportunity.

“The money we’re raising is going toward the McMan Homelessness Initiative, which basically is a pot of funds that assist our programs that address homeless among both youth and adults,”

Van Ginneken said, adding the money could be used to help someone get into housing or get registered in a program to help get them back on their feet.

To purchase tickets for the game, or to find out more, you can visit here.