The Elgar Petersen Arena ice was full of skaters on Nov. 13 as Duke Brochu held his first Skate-A-Thon to raise money and awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
The Skate-A-Thon was an idea cooked up by the young Humboldt native after he first was diagnosed with Type I diabetes earlier this summer.
Duke then went to council asking that they approve a request to donate the ice for the fundraiser. (See page 2 of the Oct. 18 Humboldt Journal)
The city approved the request and the Stake-A-Thon was born.
While the numbers of people in attendance and the final total of money raised is not yet known, the turnout was great, noted Duke’s mom, Amanda, who said people came and went throughout the afternoon but the ice was full the whole time.
Seeing so many people come out to enjoy the day was great to see, says Duke.
“It feels good that so many people want to help out with this.”
Skaters had the option to either skate on one half of the rink, or play some shinny on the other half of the rink.
Among those playing shinny was Humboldt Broncos forward Kaleb Dalhgren, who noted it was important for him as a Type I diabetic himself, to be there to take part in the Skate-A-Thon.
“I absolutely loved it. It was a fun time and there was a lot of people that came so thank you everybody who came out.”
Dahlgren, who has started his own diabetes program called Dahlgren’s Diabeauties, notes it is really great to see a kid at such a young age take a lead role in diabetes awareness.
“That shows a lot of character for sure. I know I never did this and kudos to him. That is great for him and I hope he continues to do things like this in the future because it only helps Type I diabetics,” he noted.
Overall, Duke was real pleased with how the Skate-A-Thon turned out noting he was happy to see all the people there.
In addition to just skating, there were also a number of prizes available for raffle, which was great to see as well, says Duke.
“We thought maybe we’d have to buy the prizes and wouldn’t make as much money as we raised but it felt good for them to donate all that stuff.”
Duke says he will be looking to continue his Skate-A-Thon in the future, and says he would like to thank everybody who helped make this year’s event a success.
