Giving Back

*This post is about our recent bout in support of the Ottawa Food Bank. I’d like to take this moment to thank Bust’er Up for taking this on as her project. As a not-for-profit organization, we know first hand what it is to need and what it means to invest in a community. We strive to be as self-sufficient as possible but we need people taking an interest in order to do so. As much as we want to play this sport and do our best to make this sport accessible, we must always remember that this one of life’s special luxuries and the duty falls on all of us to make sure we’re thinking about everyone, always. As such, we need to remember that the communities we reach out to, are also communities that are reaching out to us. We have a duty to help people in any way we can, so on the last Saturday of September, CCDD skated to raise money and collect food for the Ottawa Food Bank. We had a blast, the bout was exceptional and we got to help an organization. That’s one feel good day, with plenty more to come. With that, I give you the words of the event’s organizer, Bust’er UP. —Plow’her

What’s a league to do?

We had some slab space on a Saturday night.  It wasn’t at the biggest or the best arena, and we couldn’t hold a proper bout there (you know, with the huge crowds, the beer, and the music that we’ve all grown to love), but we didn’t want to let the space go to waste.

With a shoestring budget, we invited our friends, the Limestone CrusHers from Kingston, up to scrimmage against us in a charity FUNdraiser.  To make sure that it was a fair and even game, we rostered a team featuring our newest members, and coaxed our most experience players into bench managing and NSO’ing.  Delicate Plow’her, Francy Pants, Dawn Cherry joined Red on the bench, and who could forget Lobster’s time out dance?  You Kent Do That even donned his pirate hat and lent his voice to the chorus on the bench.  Even our freshies got into the spirit by learning the intricacies of scorekeeping and working the Sin Bin alongside Drucifer.

Best of all, we called on our community to support The Ottawa Food Bank (www.ottawafoodbank.ca). We offered reduced ticket prices with a donation of a non-perishable food item.  Our kind and generous skaters, freshies, and volunteers also put together a killer bake sale with all proceeds going to the food bank.

It was an incredible night.  Without a sound system in the building to guide us along, we stood together and sang the national anthem.  Voices echoed under the strange metal dome.  The scoreboard lights didn’t all work, and I bet the spectators found it easier to figure out who was winning by the noises coming off each team’s bench (though our announcer, Dev, did his best to make himself heard over the din of the crowd).

Both teams skated their hearts out.  For some of our girls in their freshman year, it was their first time skating under the CCDD banner.  They were truly the embodiment of the yarrr that makes the Capital City Derby Dolls so special.  We tip our helmets to Nina Nails, whose lead jammer status sent us all into a frenzy.

The Capital City Derby Dolls came out victorious, with a final score of 174-88 over the CrusHers and Cluster Bomb was awarded MVP for CCDD.

Best of all, we had 6 huge boxes of food and supplies to take down to the Ottawa Food bank, along with almost $250 in proceeds from the bake sale (and the empties returned after the after party).

We hope to make this an annual event, and to continue to support the Ottawa Food Bank throughout the upcoming year.

As a not for profit organization, the Capital City Derby Dolls often rely on the kindness and generosity of others, which means that we have a responsibility to pay back in kind to those who support us, and to pay it forward to those who cannot.

Tell us what charities are important to you.

Bust’er Up