SUDBURY -- Sudbury Wolves & Sports Entertainment has teamed up with the Samaritan Centre to help the less fortunate.
Money from some tickets sales will help fund services at the centre and fans can also treat a client to a game. Each day, food is served at the Samaritan Centre. The meals are a staple for many.
Lisa Long is the Executive Director at Sudbury’s Samaritan Centre, where they provide a range of services to the city’s homeless population.
"The Samaritan Centre holds space for blue door soup kitchen, for the corner clinic, for Elgin Street Mission, we have shower facilities, we have laundry facilities available for our city’s most vulnerable citizens," said Long.
Over the next two weeks, some of the proceeds of Wolves’ tickets sold at the Samaritan Centre will help fund the services at the centre.
Michael Cullen handles community partnerships with Sudbury Wolves Sports & Entertainment.
"It’s pretty tough, I know it has been a mild January, but every day is tough right and we have some people who volunteer here, who actually came from being in a situation- on the streets, so it’s very important to the fabric of what we do," said Cullen.
Bill Hickey is the operations manager of The Blue Door Soup Kitchen in Sudbury. He says without the public’s help, they would not have the capacity to serve the meals that are essential for so many.
"The cost to put on a meal is enormous, we are non- profit and we generate our money from the public, so any little bit new can get to help provide a meal, helps a lot," said Hickey.
Wolves’ fans can also purchase tickets to treat a client of the Samaritan Centre to a game.
Pastor Brad Hale of the the Elgin Street Mission believes integration is critical to success and outcomes.
"The people who have lived on the streets have missed out on being a part of society, and so often we try to segregate instead of integrate and my big push these days is let’s get some integration happening, people feeling a sense of morality feeling a sense of community," said Hale.
"Anytime you can bring normalcy to someone who is living in crisis, I think that is so helpful and so empowering for that individual, that client," said Lisa Long, executive director of the Samaritan Centre.
Between 300-400 people pass through the doors of the Samaritan Centre, every day. Officials say it’s a resource many would not survive without.