Four hockey teams comprised of young ladies from Airdrie weren't about the let COVID-19 restrictions stand in the way of an annual fundraiser to help the Airdrie Food Bank feed less fortunate people in the city.  

The U11, U13, U15, and Midget AA teams, all members of the Airdrie Minor Hockey Association, were on a mission to raise money to purchase turkeys and other food items for the Turkey Bowl fundraiser.  Normally the event consists of the girls raising money in person and then holding a game involving all of them.  In 2020, the pandemic restrictions made that impossible so they had to think outside the box in order to raise the funds.

Garrett Litoski is one of the organizers of the drive that in 2019 donated a whopping 808 turkeys to the food bank.  Litoski and the other organizers knew that matching that feat this year was going to be a monumental task.  

"It was a little bit of a challenge this year for sure," Litoski says.  "The big thing is getting the word out so our focus this year was really Facebook."

Fortunately, communicating via social media falls directly into the wheelhouse of girls 10 to 18.  "The younger generation is more adept with social media so I think they accepted collecting turkeys through Facebook or Instagram quite well.  I think they did a tremendous job and I think it was right up their alley.  As soon as you say 'social media' their eyes perk up and they're ready to go to work and find some turkeys."

And find turkeys they did, along with hams, canned pineapple, soup, and other food.   The girls collected close to $8,000 to help the Airdrie Food Bank with 458 turkeys, 83 hams, two flats of pineapple, two cases of Betty Crocker potatoes, three cases of Stove Top stuffing, 90 cans of chicken rice soup, 181 cans of chicken noodle soup and some $200 gift cards.

Codi Bacon is the Assistant Captain of the Midget AA Airdrie Lighting.  She says the Turkey Drive is a tradition that they look forward to every year.  "As an advocate for female hockey, I think we all love helping out our community and raising awareness about the food bank where we can support our community during the holidays. We are so thankful to our community partners and friends and families for supporting our efforts this year. It means a lot to each individual player, and it’s important to give back to your community whenever you can."

In her third year with the Midget AA club, captain Emily Biggin remarked on how important the turkey drive is to her and the team.  "The Turkey Bowl is our team's biggest community service project each year. It is a great way for us to give back to the community. We also like to have some friendly competition between the teams to see which team can donate the most turkeys. The food bank is always something that is in need of our support, and we are grateful that we are able to do our part and help out."

Their Head Coach BJ McElligott believes the Turkey Bowl has been an integral part of the team's identity since it got started.  "I think in a normal year, the ability to give back and know that you’re efforts make a difference are big for the girls. Given everything that’s gone on over the past calendar year, their contribution can make that much more of a difference. From my standpoint, I’m very proud that, in spite of having not been on the ice for six weeks they were still able to put the effort in and help this community."

For its part, the food bank was very appreciative of the donations during Christmas and in the midst of COVID-19 causing great hardships for many Airdronians.  This was the fifth annual event that the girl's teams have had and so far they've donated 2,567 turkeys to the Airdrie Food Bank.

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