The Peterborough Petes’ annual Pink in the Rink fundraiser surpassed the $1-million mark following Saturday’s 15th edition at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
The fundraiser, held during a Petes’ OHL game, supports the Canadian Cancer Society. This year’s edition raised $49,103.26, helping the Ontario Hockey League club to top $1 million since its inception.
With the Petes’ players acting as event ambassadors, the fundraiser included an auction of Petes’ pink game jerseys, a silent auction, T-shirt sale, chuck-a-puck, and a bucket pass in the crowd.
Funds this year will support the Canadian Cancer Society’s Wheels of Hope program which offers cancer patient free rides to and from their treatment sites.
On the ice, the Petes dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the visiting Niagara IceDogs.
“Firstly, I’d like to thank the players for being ambassadors for this year’s Campaign,” said Petes’ general manager and vice-president of operations Michael Oke. “We started this initiative 15 years ago with Petes staff such as Aaron Garfat, Cathy Webster, and Don Sharp. To be able to raise over $1 million in just 15 years is an amazing accomplishment.
“We hope to see this campaign continue to grow at the rate that it has today. Wheels of Hope is a great program, and we’re extremely pleased that the funds from this year will be put to good use.”
In the 15-year history of Pink in the Rink, the Petes have raised $1,003,239.20.