Organizers hit fundraising home run to bring Ukrainian softball team to B.C. – BC | 24CA News
Organizers of an annual international ladies’s softball event have hit a fundraising dwelling run, raking in sufficient money to deliver a Ukrainian nationwide group to Surrey to compete.
The Canada Cup, held between July 7 and 16 at Softball City, is ready to be the most important of its sort in Canadian historical past, with greater than 1,500 elite athletes from all over the world.
Athletes on the Ukrainian Women’s Junior National Softball Team, scattered throughout Ukraine and Poland on account of Russia’s incursion, will now be capable of attend, because of the efforts of tons of of native donors.
“We can’t thank the community enough for embracing Team Ukraine with open arms and helping bring them to our tournament. We have been blown away by the generosity of people from across the country,” Canada Cup chair Greg Timm mentioned in a Tuesday news launch.
“These young women have faced tremendous strain during the ongoing war and your financial support allows them to come to Surrey and play the sport they love on an international stage.”
Canada Cup organizers launched their fundraising marketing campaign on the finish of May, after receiving a late utility from the Ukrainian group and a direct request for admission from the Government of Ukraine.
The aim was to lift $60,000 — a sum reached in lower than two weeks with assist from the City of Surrey, a handful of companies and greater than 500 particular person donors.
Global News has reached out to Canada Cup employees for touch upon this story.
The Canada Cup is a non-profit group that promotes native and feminine athletes. When the fundraiser was launched, director Laura Ballance mentioned she was assured the neighborhood would pitch in sufficient to deliver the Ukrainian group to Canada.
“In 2016, our same organization hosted world championships in softball and we saw these incredible random acts of kindness,” she advised Global News in May.
“We saw local business people stepping up and providing cleats, equipment to teams that have incredible economic diversity … We know that people will step up to support these young women.”
Ukraine has been below siege by Russia since February final 12 months. Team Ukraine U19 coach Vasyl Kysil has mentioned the ladies’s group is “thrilled” to be coming to Canada to compete within the world-class occasion.
“We have had to overcome some major obstacles, but we have remained committed to fielding an elite fastpitch team that prides itself in representing our great country,” he mentioned final month.
The Ukrainian ladies are set to reach in B.C. on July 7, and play between July 10 and 13 in opposition to groups from the Fraser Valley, Delta, Saskatoon, and the states of Washington and Georgia.
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