After The Event!

It's been about 48 hrs since Hockey 4 Heroes this past Saturday and I'm still up in the clouds. I haven't felt this many emotions since the birth of my son 7 years ago. For the past 4 months Hockey 4 Heroes had literally consumed me. I was literally operating on fumes when Saturday finally arrived and as many of you already know, the weather was not looking good.

We had already postponed once and we couldn't postpone again, it was rain or shine! I can't even describe what the drive to the site was like at 6:30am, as I watched out my window praying the rain would hold off. When I arrived the rain followed suit and didn't let up for much of the morning.

On the one hand I was very pleased with what we had pulled together and I couldn't believe how amazing all the volunteers were, but on the other hand I felt a lot of guilt because it was evident from early on that the event wouldn't be the financial success we had hoped for. I felt bad for sponsors who invested time and money and probably didn't get all they had hoped for, but then an amazing thing happened. My son came up to me with another young boy and they had ear to ear grins on their faces. Both of them told me how this was the most amazing thing they had ever seen and with the snap of a finger I remembered exactly why we were hosting this event.

Around 11am the Sun cracked it's way through the sky and Mayor Rick Goldring, MPP Eleanor McMahon and myself handled the opening ceremonies and had a very fun time cutting through our ribbon to signify the start of the first ever Hockey 4 Heroes. The KidsZone was a huge success as kids filled the rides. By far the human hamster ball races and human bowling attractions took the cake as favorite rides. Seeing those kids rolling around in the giant balls was exactly what I needed and had hoped for.

Raina Krangle from Raina's Rainbow got the Sun fully shining with her amazing performance and it was followed by the amazing Lorne Lampert of Mystic Drumz. You want to talk about a guy who is amazing with children audiences, Lorne is that guy. We finished our shows with a performance from PRO Martial Arts and the kids in their uniforms were unbelievable.

Yes it wasn't all that I had hoped for, but I think I got even more than what I expected in many ways. The connections we made, the smiles that were shared and the realization that we can do this and we can do this often, are what made this event so amazing for me. I want to personally thank everyone for all their efforts and support during this crazy time in our lives.

The Josh Project and Hockey 4 Heroes will be back and better than ever next year and we look forward to continuing our journey.

An evening with many meanings

Last night was definitely an evening to remember! I had been asked to speak at Nelsons Youth Centre during their Annual General Meeting. It has to be one of the top honors of my young life. Being chosen to speak in front of such an amazing group of people, whom I could only hope to be in the same category as some day, was truly humbling and amazing.

Since meeting the phenomenal staff at Nelsons Youth Centre many months ago it was clear to me what we had to do. I don't want to name anyone, because I don't want to leave anyone out, they are all incredibly dedicated individuals who greet you with a smile every time you meet. Hockey 4 Heroes was created to assist Nelsons with their annual fundraising requirements and we can only hope that this is the first year of a very successful initiative that can provide some much needed financial help for many years to come.

As much as I would love to only highlight the amazing aspects of yesterday evening, I feel I would be doing myself and many of the youth and people I work with a dis-service if I didn't touch on the intimidating and uncomfortable side of the night. I recently turned 38 years old, however last night just before the majority of the guests and board of directors arrived, I felt as if I was an awkward kid again. I headed directly for the back of the room where the chairs had been set-up, and to make my uncomfortableness clear to anyone who was paying attention, I even chose a single aisle seat so that nobody could sit beside me. I then proceeded to stare at the evening program repeatedly in order to hammer home the anxiousness I was feeling about my impending speech.

Finally the time came and I was introduced to the group. I'm pretty sure I didn't hear a word of it because I was trapped in my own little bubble of childhood fears. As I began to speak I believe I even opened with how nervous and awkward I felt and how I probably resembled a lot of the youth the staff currently work with. I did my very best to focus on the many familiar smiles in the crowd and I just did what I truly believe we all have the ability to do. I shared. Sure I was scared and nervous and I could feel my heart pounding, but I also chose to ignore those feelings and power through.

At the end of the speech we all headed upstairs to mingle and immediately my child version was back. I did everything I could to avoid people, I hung by myself and I found things to do that would not leave me susceptible to any of my fears. Then a young lady I have worked with before came over and we started talking and she had a completely different version of me. She told me how well spoken I was and how confident and passionate I was and how everyone could see it and how she wished that she could do what I did. I obviously enjoyed the compliments for a moment, but quickly I asked her how she could see all that while I described how I truly felt. We both had a good laugh and she finished by telling me she was proud of me.

I scratched my head for a second and then I realized that is the most important thing any of us can do for any other individual and especially our youth! We must remind them each and every day how proud we are of them. How awesome their efforts are and how mistakes are great too because without them we don't learn.

The single most important thing to take from all of this is to always KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!! No matter what, keep pushing. Regardless of what you think, there are many other people with many different thoughts and just because you don't think you are capable of something, that doesn't mean you can't do it! Remember that old movie and song line, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!" That is the best piece of advice I can give. Life is going to suck and kick your butt more times than it will ever reward you and you know what, if we can greet those ass-kickings and failures in the same way we greet a friend bringing us a present, I have a feeling we will all be doing just fine!

To find out more about the amazing people at Nelsons Youth Centre Burlington, please visit http://www.nelsonyouthcentres.com/ and of course we can be found at www.TheJoshProject.com

Hope to see you all at Hockey4Heroes on Saturday Sept. 13th an all day street festival to raise money and create more awareness for Nelsons and The Josh Project.

Have a great day :)