ALPHAworks is pleased to support numerous charities, and we encourage and assist our clients to do the same. Many of our clients work with charities that have special meaning to them, and we support and encourage them with direct assistance from our staff in the planning stages as well as at events.
Ramona’s Reach
Ramona’s Reach began as a dream in the mind of Ramona Reimer, niece to Ray Petkau and wife to James Reimer’s close cousin. Having worked with children in Haiti in 2005, Ramona’s dream was to work at an orphanage somewhere in Africa. Sadly, she lost her life in 2009 at age 26, after fighting cancer for three and a half years. Her family continued her dream through amazing circumstances and have been building a faith-based orphanage and education center in Pamora, Uganda ever since.
Today the compound includes wells for local residents, a children’s home, living quarters for visiting workers, a small school, a standalone kitchen, and sanitary bathrooms. Each morning, 160 children from the area are given a nutritious breakfast and then begin their studies. The orphanage houses dozens of children who have no other safe place to go, and are living on-site, cared for by loving professionals from Uganda and abroad.
Rivals on the ice, Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit of the Winnipeg Jets, James Reimer of the Carolina Hurricanes, Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders and more Alpha Clients including retired players and corporate affiliates are teaming up with Alpha Hockey Inc and Ramona’s Reach to build a new school in Uganda.
Alpha Hockey is spearheading the project and has committed to fully fund construction of the school starting with a $100,000 donation for construction to begin immediately. This will leave a lasting impact and change the lives of thousands of children.
Ray Petkau and Jacqui Plett of Alpha Hockey along with Alpha Hockey clients Connor Hellebuyck, Laurent Brossoit and James Reimer presented a cheque for $100,000 to Ramona’s Reach board members on Tuesday, December 17th, 2019 at Bell MTS Place.
Photo of James Reimer’s mask with Ramona’s Reach logo on the back.
StraightRoad Mission
StraightRoad Mission is an organization with a strong desire and passion to help facilitate health and wholeness to each individual in their spirit, soul, and body, especially in counties that are affected by famine, war, and genocide. Staff travels to third-world countries to provide children and families with nutrition and education, as well as providing start up support for micro business.
StraightRoad goes off the beaten track reaching out to those that are forgotten. People are blessed in every area of life through the Christian teaching they provide, combined with one on one ministry if they seek it out. They experience deep trauma healing from having survived the ravages of destitute poverty, war, and genocide.
100% of money donated to StraightRoad Mission goes directly to helping those in need.
Featured on the right: StraightRoad Mission founder Rosel Froese serving nutrition to those in need
Ari Book Series
Ari’s Awful Day is a book written for young school children that tackle the enemy of racism through a story of learned kindness. The book was illustrated and written by Thom Van Dycke, with Jermaine Loewen. Van Dycke is a storyteller, artist, foster parent, and child welfare advocate, who has trained thousands of parents, volunteers, and professionals in caring for kids from hard places. Jermaine Loewen is a rising star in hockey. He was born in Jamaica and adopted into a family from Manitoba, Canada when he was five years old. His love for hockey began at a young age, but when he turned 16 it became obvious that he had a rare talent for the game! In 2018 he was drafted by the Dallas Stars and in 2019 he began his professional playing career with the Vegas Golden Knights affiliate team, the Chicago Wolves. He has lived with the pressure of racial prejudice for much of his life.
Although “racism” is not a word that appears in the book, it the theme of the story; as is kindness, friendship, and courage. Ari’s Awful Day is a captivating story of two kids who overcome their differences by an act of kindness, but much more as well. The author has developed resources for families, lesson plans for teachers, as well as children’s activities to complement the book and help kids learn the value of kindness for all people.
Thomas Greiss Hockey Camp
Thomas Greiss partners up with the United Heroes League to give back to military families. Greiss hosts his camp at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, providing equipment and mentorship to children of military families. The goal of the camp is to encourage life time skills such as discipline, teamwork and good sportsmanship. The Thomas Greiss Hockey Camp also seeks to provide an NHL experience to the military families and the hockey community.
Thomas Greiss
Autism and Special Needs Children Playing Hockey
Thomas Greiss is quickly becoming a top goalie in the NHL. When time allows, he volunteers with various Autism and special needs groups and organizations for young people who play hockey. Thomas and wife Brittney, have a special connection with people who have Autism, as Brittney’s niece lives with this disorder.
Thomas and Brittney have partnered with numerous special needs hockey teams and other events to support Autism Research, and to assist those living with Autism.
As a show of support for people with Autism, Thomas has the Autism Puzzle painted on each of his goalie masks. The interlocking, mutli-colored puzzle piece has become the international symbol of autism. Its significance has become multi-faceted. For some it represents the mystery and complexity of the disorder, for others it represents the mechanical nature of an autistics persons thought process. For Thomas, it has a personal meaning, and he and Brittney are happy to show their support.
(seen right: Thomas Greiss’ Autism Awareness helmet)
April Reimer
#tweetsweet
April Reimer, wife of James Reimer, created this campaign to challenge students to spread positive messages through online social networks. With the rapid increase of technology, cyber-bullying has grown into a national wide issue. Social network sites are where cyber-bullying is produced but just like these sites can be used for harm, they can also be used for good. This is where #tweetsweet comes in.
