Hockey for the Homeless

Hockey and homelessness don’t seem a natural fit. But when a group of Toronto businessmen decided to use an annual hockey tournament to raise funds for the city’s homeless, the results were life-changing. One of the businessmen was Gary Scullion, Cadbury Canada’s general 
manager. “I was so moved by the humanity, generosity and gratitude of the people I met living on the streets,” says Scullion, founder and executive director of Hockey for the Homeless. “We realized very quickly we had a terrific business model—we could use the high profile of hockey to help raise awareness, and money, for the homeless.”

The idea immediately garnered support from enthusiastic volunteers as well as high-profile former NHL players, including Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Gartner, who is the organization’s honourary chairperson. Very quickly, Hockey for the Homeless grew to become a series of tournaments held yearly in six major Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

To raise funds, players pay a fee to participate in one-day tournaments, and lace up alongside NHL players. The organization also partners with other charitable homeless agencies that work to identify and implement solutions to end homelessness in Canada.

What started out more than a decade ago as a plan to purchase a few sleeping bags for Toronto’s homeless community has evolved into a high-profile, national volunteer organization that raises more than half a million dollars every year for homeless men, women and children in Canada. Since their first tournament in 1996, Hockey for the Homeless has raised more than $2.6 million, and passed out more than 17,000 life kits—toiletry items, food and warm clothes—to the too-often faceless, placeless people who call the streets home.

—Leah Macpherson