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Meadow Lakers wear jerseys to honour Humboldt Broncos

Apr 12, 2018 | 5:00 PM

It’s a symbolic gesture thousands people across the country are participating in — putting on a jersey to honour the Humboldt Broncos killed or injured in a crash last week —and many Meadow Lake residents are taking part.

Jersey Day was observed today at schools, businesses, and other locations in and around the city, in honour those involved in a fatal bus collision on Friday, April 6. The incident occurred 30 kilometres outside of Tisdale as members and associates of the Humboldt Broncos hockey organization were travelling to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game in Nipawin. A total of 16 people have died and 13 were injured as a result of the crash.

Hundreds of citizens donned their jerseys, sharing messages of solidary and support via social media. On their Facebook page, the Meadow Lake Co-op shared the fact their parent company, Federated Co-operatives Limited, is meeting donations to a growing GoFundMe campaign up to $250,000. Several staff members at Home Hardware donned company jerseys, saying their hearts are with the Humboldt Broncos, families, fans and the City of Humboldt.  

In a similar gesture earlier this week, many people in the city wore green, and city council wore Meadow Lake Sr. Broncos jerseys at their first April meeting.

Staff and students at most local schools also took part. Teri Brake, a kindergarten French immersion teacher at Lakeview Elementary School, had her students complete a colouring project involving jerseys today. One student even told her they would try really hard to colour inside the lines for the Broncos.

Brake said she was touched by the amount of compassion her young students have shown since hearing the devastating news.

“My class is always wanting to do things to help others,” Brake said. “They were the ones who came up with the idea to raise money to help [the] families. They came up with a total of $25 from their piggy banks and I matched them. We counted the money because they’re learning how to count and add, and they had come up with $25 by themselves.

I think it’ll be something that really sticks with them and I don’t think it’s something they’ll easily forget,” she said.

 

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath