Newmarket and the surrounding area are coming together once again to play hockey and raise money for the GTA children’s hospice Emily’s House.
The Manning family is putting on Hockey for Grace for the first time in four years to raise money for the organization. The charity hockey tournament will feature teams at National Training Rinks Newmarket, with dignitaries from the area, including Bradford Mayor James Leduc.
Despite a long pandemic hiatus from 2020 to 2022, Amy Manning said the community responded well to the event’s return, with all the spots filling up.
“We’re overwhelmed. We didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “It’s a really great feeling to know everyone still wants to help out and be part of our event.”
The charity tournament had run for three years previously, dedicated to Amy and Chris Manning's daughter, Grace, who passed away when eight days old in 2016. The family was able to stay at Emily’s House in Toronto and decided to fundraise for it in gratitude for the support they received.
“Both Chris and I feel like they saved our lives,” Amy Manning said. “Neither of us feel like we would have been able to recover and move on to live the life we’re living now.”
The tournament features three divisions, including recreational, competitive and co-ed. The two-day tournament also has a charity social event March 4, featuring raffles and silent auctions to raise more money.
With approximately $10,000 already raised this year, Manning said they hope they can get to $20,000.
“It works, and we just keep going at it and hoping to raise lots of money,” Manning said.
The games and charity social are open to all to attend. It all kicks off with a puck drop at 9 a.m. March 4.
It was important for the event to return, Manning said.
“It creates a legacy for our daughter. It’s a way she can still be a part of the world and touch people and bring people together,” she said, adding infant loss is an issue not talked about enough. “It’s a really important thing for us to bring that out to the forefront.”
Games will be played at NTR Newmarket at 115 Stellar Dr. The charity social will run starting March 4 at 7 p.m. at the Newmarket Optimist Club at 55 Forhan Ave.
