Snowy day, big hearts: Welland community supports 14th annual Julia’s Hope Cup
Julia’s Hope Cup organizer Paul Turner and the Hope Centre’s Jennifer Sinclair at the 14th annual fundraiser in Welland’s Chippawa Park.
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The falling snow and cool, icy conditions created the perfect wintry backdrop as the Niagara community laced up their skates in support of Welland’s most vulnerable residents.
Children, adults and dozens of volunteers turned out to Chippawa Park Saturday morning. They braved the snowy weather and impending winter storm to support the Turner family as the 14th annual Julia’s Hope Cup got underway.
With online donations surpassing $62,000, all funds raised benefited the Hope Centre. This will support its food security programs, which includes the food bank and community lunch program.
Organizer Paul Turner said fundraising has already surpassed its goal. He wanted the day not to be about money but about coming together as a community.
“If we’re going to be a community, we need to take care of everybody in our society,” he said. “Affordable housing is always something we stress on this day and (we’re) having fun today. It’s a beautiful day, but let’s not forget a lot of people in our community are suffering.”
There were concerns in the early Saturday morning hours about the winter storm warning, where 30 to 35 centimetres of snowfall was expected to hit the Niagara region. Turner said the weather forecast did impact those travelling from out-of-town, but otherwise the cold temperatures and fast-falling snowflakes set the perfect scene and created an idyllic white ice rink for the event.
“This is the first time since before COVID that we’ve been on the ice. We usually play ball hockey because the ice is not around. This is awesome,” he said.
The annual fundraising event is in honour of Turner’s daughter Julia, who volunteered her time at the Hope Centre before being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour in May 2011.
Following her death at the age of 15 in December 2011, Turner and his family named the annual pond hockey charity tournament after Julia. Turner and his wife, Tina, their children Melaney and Jackie run the tournament with dedicated volunteers.
Fourteen years later, Turner reflected on the event’s beginnings. He credited the community for its support in launching that first tournament and continuing to show up year after year. “It’s heartwarming,” he said.
“It is really, really cool, it’s special. It’s an amazing feeling for our whole family. My daughters are here, my grandson, what more can we ask for?” said Turner. “We want (Julia’s) memory to be kept alive and this is a great example of keeping her memory alive.”
Jennifer Sinclair, as community engagement co-ordinator at the Hope Centre, helps facilitate events and for the last three years that has included Julia’s Hope Cup. She had known about Welland’s unique, compassionate spirit but “being here, you can really just feel the love, the support, the care from the community.”
And its desire to give back.
Sinclair said the generosity from the community is crucial for the Hope Centre — the centre receives funding from the City of Welland and other smaller grants but does not receive government funds. Record numbers pass through its doors and have increased by 30 per cent every year since the pandemic.
“The need is growing and people need help,” she said. “We are seeing 1,000s and 1,000s of pounds going off the shelves each month that we can’t possibly manage without the support of the community. Events like this, donations that come through, allow us to purchase food that we need to fill the shelves.”
The first few hours of Julia’s Hope Cup were dedicated to children and a handful of kids laced up their skates and jumped on the ice. But most participants, about 50 to 60 people, participated in the afternoon hockey games.
Turner and his family thanked everybody for their support, including the City of Welland. During a strange time in Canada, they also took a few moments to bring attention to the Canadian anthem, flag and the importance of the Canadian identity in the wake of ongoing dialogue stemming from United States President Donald Trump.
“If you want to put a positive slant on it, it’s finally getting us to recognize who are we as Canadians … in some ways it’s going to bring us closer together,” said Turner.
Looking around at the ice rink and the falling snow, he added, “how Canadian is this? This is Canadian.”
Donations to Julia’s Hope Cup can be made at juliashopecup.ca