For their Championship Week celebrations, the National Capital Amateur Football Association (NCAFA) is partnering with Purolator to help tackle hunger in Ottawa. One of the largest amateur football leagues in Canada, NCAFA offers contact and non-contact football programming for boys and girls aged 8 to 18 years old.
NCAFA has decided to use its reach this season to not only support youth getting back onto the field, but to also tackle food insecurity around Ottawa.
In 2021, food banks saw an average of 1.3 million visits per month. This means that 20% more Canadians have been struggling with food insecurity than before the pandemic. Even worse, one third of these Canadians are children. That’s why NCAFA is partnering with Purolator to collect non-perishable food items from each of its 13 member clubs leading up to Championship Week, November 2nd to 6th.
“For the last 67 years NCAFA has been encouraging boys and girls to play the ultimate team game – football, and through the sport teaching kids the importance of teamwork, commitment and hard work,” says Gawain Harding, NCAFA President. “More than producing great football players, our main goal as a league is to produce great people that will go on to support the community.”
Here’s how you can participate:
- Contact gawainncafa@gmail.com if you would like to participate.
- Ask your players, their families, and members of your community to donate non-perishable food items from now until championship week.
- NCAFA will count the number of donated items for your club on Saturday, November 5th and Sunday, November 6th.
- The club that collects and donates the most items will win the ability to host their year end banquet at TD place’s Otto’s Club with members of the Ottawa REDBLACKS (retail value of $3,000).