Frustration turned to jubilation for a local roller derby team after many folks stepped up to help out following a theft.
The NWO Roller Girls had 13 brand new jerseys – customized with names and numbers – stolen from the back of a white Mazda 2 parked near Sardis elementary school over night June 10 and 11.
The $930 cost was one thing, but the upcoming game days later meant they didn’t have their new jerseys.
“It’s just so frustrating,” NWO Roller Girl Kristy Gaunt said at the time.
But then the sports community rallied together in a super-positive way.
First up, the Chilliwack Crusaders Rugby Club invited the roller derby team to their fundraiser on June 24 and let the girls partly take over.
“The donated all of their raffle and 50/50 profits to help us,” Gaunt said. “They also let us sell jello shots there to fundraise towards new jerseys.”
Then, wait for it, Pivotstar, the company the team bought the jerseys from, heard about what happened shipped out brand new jerseys for free to replace the stolen ones.
“We were hoping for a discount at the most, but instead Lulu (Pivotstar’s owner) replaced them all!” Gaunt said.
But that wasn’t all. Then Tanya Granneman who did the printing for the team’s jerseys gave them a massive discount on the new set.
“So the donations we got from the Chilliwack Crusaders Rugby Club covered the last of the cost for our new jerseys,” she said.
“Our league is so grateful to the Crusaders, Pivotstar, and Tanya Granneman for how amazing they were pulling together to help us out so much!
“The sports community really is one of a kind.”