Eking out a one-goal victory scored double the funds for the Victoria Fire Department’s charity of choice in the second annual Ken Gill and Forrest Owens Memorial Hockey Tournament in Esquimalt.
Victoria Fire edged out CFB Esquimalt with a 5-4 win, earning $6,000 for the Courtnall Society and a $3,000 donation for Wounded Warriors Canada courtesy of the Canadian Forces team.
Langford Fire Rescue finished third in the tournament – an event that highlights physical and mental well-being – held at Archie Browning and Wurtele arenas on April 5.
Based in Victoria, the Courtnall Society for Mental Health was established in 2021 by brothers Geoff, Russ and Bruce Courtnall. The society promotes the understanding of mental health through awareness, education and resources while raising funds to provide grants to support community-centric mental health organizations across Canada.
Wounded Warriors Canada specializes in providing trauma-exposed professionals and their families with culturally informed services through education, counselling and training to support resiliency and recovery from post-trauma injuries.
Goldstream Food Bank provides nutritious food hampers to those in need on the West Shore – serving roughly 500 households each month.
The Ken Gill and Forrest Owens Memorial Hockey Tournament brings together first responders and community members to honour the two late firefighters, raise mental health awareness and promote resilience in the first responder community.
The tournament serves as a reminder of the challenges firefighters face – both physical and mental – and the wraparound events of the tournament highlight that. Gill died by suicide in 2018 and Forrest from job-related cancer in 2022.
