Domino’s Pizza supports minor hockey in Shelburne

Written By Brian Lockhart

Domino's Pizza in Shelburne stepped up again this year to help Shelburne Minor Hockey by donating a portion of sales to the local sports club.

Over the course of several months, the pizzeria had days where they offered a special on a combo of two pizzas and cheesy bread, with a portion of the sales going towards minor hockey, totalling $1,800.

“We used the funds to benefit several teams,” explained Kelly Gee, Shelburne Minor Hockey sponsorship director. “It is is used for extra ice time, exhibition games, tournaments, skill development, and dry-land training. It helps with all those additional costs. The cost of registration is going up because the cost of living is going up. Then there's the cost of driving to get these kids to different places. We want to encourage more kids to play sports, and we don't want the cost to be a factor. Having things like this that helps with fundraising helps to bring those costs down, so we can have a more equitable sport.”

Many families are finding it difficult to register kids in sports as registration alone can be costly, and the additional expense of equipment can be a challenge.

“It's these fundraising dollars that we use to keep costs down,” Kelly explained. “We can give them a program that is giving them the development and skills that they need, as well as the ice time.”

The funds generated by Domino's Pizza will be used to support Shelburne's U7 rep, U9, U11 rep, U13 rep, U13 LL, U15, U15 rep and U18 rep teams.

The pizza shop funds local activities at all its locations.

“We have been doing this for almost five years now,” explained Domino's Pizza district manager Rahul Kalra. “One of my drivers was involved with one of the teams and brought us on board with Shelburne Minor Hockey. We started doing this for game nights and would give out coupons for the winning team. We started doing it once a month as a fundraiser.”

Each Domino's location is able to choose a local initiative they want to be part of.

Shelburne Domino's Pizza has also sponsored several other organizations, events, and schools in the area.

Domino's Pizza Shelburne delivered a cheque for $1,800 to Shelburne Minor Hockey on Thursday, June 22.