By Kellah Lavoie

Jersey auction sends kids to camp

May 30, 2011 | 6:35 AM

An annual fundraiser to send kids to camp has a new addition.

Since 2005, Rev. Sandy Scott has been raising money to send Prince Albert children to local camps, this year he has an added fundraiser.

He is auctioning off a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey in a desert Canadian military pattern style, he said.

There were only 25 of them made. They were given to Canadian Forces chaplains in Afghanistan when Brian Burke, Maple Leafs general manager, went overseas to visit troops – it was the same

time Scott was deployed. He received the jersey from Chaplain Jim McKay.

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“It’s quite special, especially if you are a Canadian military person who has served in Afghanistan, and it’s nice to know that the Toronto Maple Leafs care enough about us that they would one let their general manger come visit us at Kandahar Airfield and two that he’d be kind enough to befriend a chaplain and help to take care of us,” he said.

The jersey is on display at Ted Matheson Men’s Wear and will be up for silent auction until mid-June.

“We’ve had a lot of people go in and look at it,” he said, adding last time he checked there was only one bid.

It’s not the only fundraiser he does.

Scott and his wife, Elizabeth Moar, will be going a triathlon on June 16.

The couple will start in Sandy Lake, swim one kilometre, bike 70 kilometres and run the final 10 kilometres, ending at Riverside Community School – one of two schools they typically partner with to send students to camp —the other is Westview Community School.

Teachers and school social workers help recruit and work with the kids, Scott and his wife provide the funds.

It’s not just camp fees, he said.

“Some children don’t have things like sleeping bags and there are other costs involved so we try to defer those costs and make sure kids can get there in terms of transportation and other ways.”

They typically send the children to Camp Christopher, but they can go to any camp near Prince Albert that is a member of the Saskatchewan Camping Association.

“It’s a really important project in Prince Albert when you think of it, 25 per cent of our population in P.A. is under the age of 18 years of age. We have lots of kids who really need something to do in the summer and camp an outstanding activity for them to take part in,” he said.

The fundraiser has grown exponentially over the last six years. In the first year they raised $2,000 and sent 17 kids to camp. They are hoping to raise $12,500 this year, sending 110 youth to camp.

Anyone who would like to make a pledge can contact Scott at 961-4471.

klavoie@panow.com