Coach4Food Phenomenon

Tom Hedican's mother Shirley - who passed away in October - would be proud to see this year's Coach4Food total which eclipsed 60,000 pounds. Photo submitted.

Peter Kern has never been to North Bay but that didn’t stop the Swiss businessman from topping up the Coach4Food campaign with a cheque for $10,000.00.

“It meant everything to me,” Coach4Food founder said about the donation. Hedican is a personal goalie trainer for Kern’s 19-year-old son Marc who plays in the Swiss ‘A’ League.

“That’s why I took his son on as a client because they are a good family.”

That huge cash injection pushes the final total for the 2008 Coach4Food campaign to 60,482 pounds – almost triple the amount of 21,882 pounds that was considered an unreachable total in 2007.

What started out with 1,000 pounds of food in 2005 has literally become a phenomenon in the city of North Bay.

“The whole month of December is a blur,” Hedican said about his whirlwind tour of hockey rinks where he offered his pro coaching advice in exchange for non-perishable food items.

“It was a busy month - in and out of rinks - but it’s a good feeling you’ve helped in the community in some way.”

Numbers and the Economy

Despite a downturn in the economy, Hedican believes that Coach4Food is a reflection of the type of giving community we live in.

He was amazed when one Ringette team alone gathered 4900 pounds of food by going door to door canvassing the neighbourhoods of North Bay for 3 weeks straight.

But one of Hedican’s fondest memories involved a simple conversation he heard between two Novice aged girls during one Coach4Food practice.

“Two little girls were having their own conversation and they said it was neat that they are going to help feed people that don’t have food. You just shake your head and say that’s what this is all about.”

Shirley Hedican

The campaign has a special meaning for Hedican this year. Back in October his Mother Shirley passed away.

While Bruce Springsteen’s work with food banks inspired Hedican to start the campaign in ’05 – the former North Bay Centennials assistant G.M. really learned how to give from his generous and giving Mother.

“I know my Mom obviously would be happy about all of this,” said Hedican.

“Mom and Dad raised us this way. They just did it going to the food bank or giving money to the church and other charities. This is her legacy she would be pleased that we helped people who had less - that’s just who she was.”

Where do we go from here?

“Don’t ask me!” Hedican joked while responding to the question.

“You can only do so many practices and gather so much food. I don’t know if we can ever gather this much again. It will be very difficult to get to this total again but we’ll try.”

The Coach4Food campaign may not get bigger locally it is growing outside of North Bay’s borders as it became part of a food bank initiative connected to the New Jersey Devils while former friend and former Centennials head coach Mike Kelly started his own campaign in the Maritimes.

Hedican says CBC will be talking about Coach4Food which was a critical portion of the North Bay’s 2007 Hockeyville submission during “Hockey Day in Canada,” in February.

The local hero will rest and enjoy the rest of the holiday with his family before heading back to his goaltending consulting business which will take him to Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the new year.

However, before he gets on that jet plane he expects to have an official cheque presentation to the North Bay Food Bank - likely sometime next week.

Merry Christmas North Bay.