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News Release

June 26, 2012

Five Hole for Food plays ball hockey across Canada
to feed the hungry for the third year

Team sets off on 100,000-pound food drive for local food banks

VANCOUVER—Five Hole for Food (FHFF) is tackling hunger for a third consecutive summer in a 13-city, coast-to-coast road trip starting July 3 with a goal of collecting 100,000 pounds of food to feed Canadians in need.

Last year’s campaign saw people come together and contribute almost 43,000 pounds of food to community food banks in cities stretching from Newfoundland to B.C.

“Our intention in 2011 was to collect 20,000 pounds of food and we ended up more than doubling our goal,” said FHFF founder Richard Loat, 23. “We’re upping the ante this year. While our target to bring in 100,000 pounds of food sounds ambitious, I’m confident Canadians will step up to help us help others.

“The generosity of the people we met on the road was overwhelming, especially the teenage girl in Toronto who collected donations at her high school on our behalf. It’s people like her and those who volunteer at food banks who are the real heroes.”

Loat and his friends – Victor Lo, Jonathan Buyco and Tierney Milne – begin their 19-day journey in St. John’s, N.L. They will set up drop-in ball-hockey games at each stop and people are invited to bring their hockey stick to play. It’s free to participate, but players are asked to bring a cash donation or a non-perishable good for the food bank.

The 2012 schedule:

  • July 3: St. John’s, N.L.
  • July 5: Halifax, N.S.
  • July 6: Charlottetown, PEI
  • July 7: Saint John, N.B.
  • July 9: Montreal, Q.C.
  • July 10: Ottawa, ON
  • July 12: Toronto, ON
  • July 14: Winnipeg, MB
  • July 15: Regina, SK
  • July 17: Calgary, AB
  • July 18: Edmonton, AB
  • July 20: Victoria, B.C.
  • July 21: Vancouver, B.C.

This year’s sponsors include: Molson Canadian, Chevrolet Canada, TELUS, London Drugs, Nature’s Path, Jan K. Overweel Limited, NHLPA, Tiger Lotus Media, Canadian Pacific, Webber Naturals, Marketwire, Boston Pizza, and John van der Woude Designs.

For more information about FHFF or to donate online, visit www.fiveholeforfood.com.

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Five Hole for Food (FHFF) is a non-profit organization that embarks on an annual cross-country road trip to feed hungry Canadians. From Newfoundland to British Columbia, it organizes drop-in ball-hockey games in major cities to collect donations and create awareness for community food banks. Since its inception in 2010, FHFF has collected the equivalent of almost 70,000 pounds of food. This year’s campaign starts July 3 in St. John’s, N.L., and finishes with its premiere event July 21 in Vancouver, B.C. The road crew will drive approximately 11,000 kilometres, visiting 13 cities in 19 days.

Suggested tweet: Will You Play Hockey for Food? Join @fiveholeforfood in helping your local food bank. http://bit.ly/bwMl6T #FHFF

Media contacts:

Dixon Tam, VP communications
778.873.3077 | dixon@fiveholeforfood.com

Yvonne Yuen, media relations manager
604.207.3563 | yvonne@fiveholeforfood.com

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Videos

Our Trailer

Street Hockey For Charity

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Five Hole for Food?
Five Hole for Food is a grassroots campaign involving a 19-day cross-country road trip to play ball hockey and create awareness and generate donations for food banks. We organize drop-in ball-hockey games in 13 Canadian cities with partnerships secured with local food banks in each community.

How do I participate?
Bring your hockey stick and a donation to the food bank! It’s that simple. We’ve got drop-in hockey games organized in each city and food bank volunteers will be on site to collect donations.

Which cities are on the schedule?
We kick things off July 3 in St. John’s, N.L. and play our last game in Vancouver, B.C. on July 21. The Five Hole for Food road crew will visit 13 Canadian cities. Please check our schedule for detailed listings.

Who came up with the idea?
Richard Loat, a recent Simon Fraser University graduate, is the founder of Five Hole for Food. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Loat realized how sports brought an entire country together. This is how he came up with the idea to organize a cross-country road trip to help Canadian food banks. The concept is to play ball hockey in major cities to create awareness and generate donations for local food banks. FHFF has collected almost 70,000 pounds since its inception. This year’s goal is to collect 100,000 pounds.

Why did we choose to support food banks?
Choosing to work with food banks was an easy choice. We can make a big impact with a little bit of time, work, and ultimately food. We chose to help food banks because of the immediate tangible impact. The shortages that food banks face these days — especially during the summer — is something we can help address.

How are you using social media to promote Five Hole for Food?
Five Hole for Food’s roots began via social media and its success continues as a result. Many of our volunteers, organizers and sponsors were brought on board through connections made from Twitter and hockey bloggers. When the campaign launches July 3, Richard Loat and his team will file reports from the road. They will share photos and videos through Twitter updates, blogging and the Five Hole for Food Facebook page. Supporters will be able to live vicariously through the road crew as they drive from city to city playing their favourite sport during their cross-country food drive.

Where can I buy a T-shirt and how much do they cost?
You can buy a T-shirt from our store for $20. Shipping is an additional $8.

Where does the funds raised from the events go to?
All of the funds raised from each city’s events go directly to the food bank we’ve partnered with:

St. John’s, N.L.: Community Food Sharing Association
Halifax, N.S.: Feed Nova Scotia
Charlottetown, PEI: The Upper Room Food Bank and Soup Kitchen
Saint John, N.B.: Community Food Basket of Saint John
Montreal, Q.C.: Moisson Montréal
Toronto, ON: Daily Bread Food Bank (Toronto)
Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Food Bank
Winnipeg, MN: Siloam Mission
Regina, SK: Regina & District Food Bank
Calgary, AB: Calgary Interfaith Food Bank
Edmonton, AB: Edmonton Food Bank
Victoria, B.C.: The Mustard Seed
Vancouver, B.C.: Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society

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About Us

  • Five Hole for Food is a 13-city cross-country road trip that will see ball hockey games played in St. John’s, Halifax, Charlottetown, Saint John, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria and Vancouver.
  • This event was created in 2010 by Richard Loat, a Canadian hockey fan from Vancouver, B.C., who combined his love for hockey with a grassroots campaign to raise awareness and solicit donations for food banks across the country.
  • Since its inception, Five Hole for Food has collected almost 70,000 pounds of food for community food banks. This year marks the third road trip for Loat and crew.
  • In 2012, the Five Hole for Food crew will drive approximately 11,000 kilometres across Canada over a span of 19 days in a Chevrolet Traverse sponsored by Chevrolet Canada.
  • A ball hockey game has been organized in each city – participants and spectators are encouraged to bring their hockey sticks and a food donation. The event will benefit food banks in each respective community.
  • Five Hole for Food sponsors are: Molson Canadian, Chevrolet Canada, TELUS, London Drugs, Nature’s Path, Jan K. Overweel Limited, NHLPA, Tiger Lotus Media, Canadian Pacific, Webber Naturals, Marketwire, Boston Pizza, and John van der Woude Designs. Click here to see a full list of our sponsors.
  • Official social media channels for Five Hole for Food:
  • People can also make donations online via PayPal on our website.

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The Team

Richard Loat, Founder

Richard’s passions for social media and hockey were the two elements he built Five Hole for Food upon. With the giving experience such an alienating one, Five Hole for Food is the opportunity for people to come together, give back together, and make a difference together. A proud member of the Simon Fraser University family, Richard is an avid Canucks fan, technology enthusiast, and athlete. Involved in a range of philanthropic endeavours he is passionate, outside of the aforementioned, about academia, social media research, and youth related initiatives. He is founder and now adult mentor of YAHU, a Shelterbox Response Team member, and super hero by night.

When not cheering for the Canucks he can usually be found absorbed in music or hunting down obscure movies. His favourite movies include Snatch, Dead Snow, The Big Lebowski, Enemy of the State and Conquest of Paradise 1842, although not necessarily in that order.

Follow him on Twitter: @mozy19

Vic Lo, Pilot

What better way to combine two loves? An automotive teacher in West Vancouver, Vic has been cheering steadily for the Canucks since the days Jim Sandlak wore number 25. The opportunity to travel across the country to play our national game while doing something worthwhile makes him very thankful for the sponsors who believe in us as well as the summers off. Looking forward to visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame, getting a Montreal smoked meat sandwich, exploring the prairies, and riling up some Flames and Oilers fans for a good cause!

Follow him on Twitter: @Moto_Mayhem

Jonathan Buyco, Pilot

Whether it’s on ice skates, roller-blades, sneakers or a game controller, if it’s hockey I’m in! When I luckily was introduced to Five Hole For Food, I jumped on the opportunity to pitch in any way I could. How could I say no to a chance to enjoy the sport I love AND to an opportunity to travel across our beautiful nation? It only gets better knowing that our success equals the success of our food banks! This is by far going to be my greatest hockey adventure and words can’t even explain how excited I am… So be sure to catch me in one of our destination cities and really see me express my excitement by the smile on my face! (PS I’ll be the one behind some sort of a camera as we document our trip from coast to coast.)

Follow him on Twitter: @JonathanBuyco

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Our Schedule

Check out our schedule and see where and when we’re playing in 2012.

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Contact Us

General E-mail: media@fiveholeforfood.com

Five Hole for Food media relations team

Dixon Tam
VP Communications
E-mail: dixon@fiveholeforfood.com
778.873.3077

Yvonne Yuen
 Media Relations Manager
E-mail: yvonne@fiveholeforfood.com
604.207.3563

Gina Vesnaver
Media Relations Specialist
E-mail: gina@fiveholeforfood.com

Roxanne St-Pierre
Media Relations Specialist
E-mail: roxanne@fiveholeforfood.com

Phoenix Lam
Communications Specialist
E-mail: phoenix@fiveholeforfood.com

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