Five Hole for Food Comes (Back) to Vancouver!

We devote a lot of time and digital ink over the course of the year playing up the role of the cold and calculating members of the Smylosphere. We mercilessly disparage commonly used hockey narratives like grit, heart, and character because they’re, for the most part, things we can’t really quantify. So we put as little stock as possible into them, instead focusing on tangible metrics that we can integrate into our analysis of the game.

While the divide between however you choose to define the ‘old school’ and ‘new school’ crowd has definitely been progressively shrinking over time, there’s still a rift there that some people can’t get over. Some things will always be up for debate, and there will always be a crowd out there that remains dubious of what you’re trying to sell them regardless of how well-reasoned and thought out it may be. That’s perfectly fine; imagine how mundane the internet would be if we all agreed about everything?

There is one thing I think we *can* all agree on, though — hockey is great, but finding a way to use it as a vehicle for positively influencing people’s lives and helping out those that are less fortunate than ourselves is the best. That’s what we’re talking about here today.

This now marks the 5th year that the Five Hole for Food crew has travelled across Canada, quite literally playing hockey in exchange for food. What initially started off of as small project has blossomed into a grand ordeal that more and more people are getting behind. And why wouldn’t they? 

The goal this year is for them to reach the 1,000,000 pound threshold all-time of food raised for local food banks. It’s a remarkable accomplishment that – if you haven’t in years past because you either weren’t able, or didn’t know about it – you can help participate in this coming weekend.

Here are all of the main details you need to know:

When: the event takes place this coming Saturday (July 19th) from noon to 6pm.

Where: Granville Street, between West Georgia and Smithe. That’s twice the space being sectioned off compared to years past, showing you just how prominent this thing is getting.

How: This is the simplest part. Just show up with a hockey stick, a smile, and a donation of your choosing (whether it be canned food or money). 

Who: There are going to be a mass of people that’ll come by throughout the day. I can’t speak definitively as to which celebrities will be around, but Mayor Gregor Robertson has partaken in the festivities in the past, and..

On a decidedly smaller scale, I’ll be there for the entirety of the day myself. I’m sure that you had already decided whether you were or were not going to come join in on the fun well before that last sentence, but maybe the fact that I might just have some Canucks Army t-shirts and stickers on me to hand out to people that make themselves known might do something for you.

Regardless, here’s their website for those of that would like to read up more on the cause. You can also follow Five Hole for Food on Twitter to keep up with their journey across the country. 

I’ll see some (most?) of you out there on Saturday afternoon, where we’ll all be playing hockey for food.