County Cup donation

Hockey tournament nets big donation to PELC

Last Friday morning, Chris and Samantha Parsons of Parsons Brewing Company presented the Prince Edward Learning Centre (PELC) with a cheque for $6,387.55 from the proceeds of the recent County Cup hockey tournament. The three-day tournament, which took place during the first weekend in March, featured six local men’s teams and two women’s teams. The proceeds from registration fees, merchandise sales and a silent auction exceeded expectations and Chris Parsons called the tournament “a resounding success”. Community volunteers and students, staff and board members from PELC all contributed to a well-run event, despite the arrival of a Saturday snowstorm. “I was so impressed at how Chris organized so many different parts of the community to come together,” said PELC executive director Kathy Kennedy. “This is probably the largest donation we’ve ever received from a community partner. Some of it will be used to support the Good Food Market, PECFresh, and some will be used to support people that are looking to upgrade their education and improve financial security.” She added that PELC actually expanded during the pandemic. From a staff of five, it has now grown to 13. “We’re at more than full operation. We know that Covid really exacerbated some inequities and we applied for every single piece of funding we could get to help out people in the community, and supporting that need hasn’t gone away.”

Chris Parsons said that this year’s County Cup’s success was made possible with a lot of help from the community, including partners Rural Print Company and Pro Hockey Life Belleville, which donated over $5,000 worth of equipment for the silent auction. He also noted that this year’s final games opened with the playing of the national anthem, thanks to a suggestion from PELC student Brad O’Neil, who was one of the volunteers at the event. Parsons is working with Danielle Skirrow—a former member of Canada’s national team and captain of one of this year’s County Cup teams—to have dedicated team jerseys for next year’s finalists.