(Ken Schwartz, Head Controller at Ontario Iron Works and long-time Bell Warriors volunteer. Ontario Iron Works is the newest Bell Warriors Football Club Gold Sponsor thanks to a very generous donation made recently by Ken & Carmen Schwartz on behalf of Ontario Iron Works. Photo: Ontario Iron Works)
For over a decade, when the Bell Warriors Football Club have found themselves in need, the Schwartz family have been there to step up for our club and young players. Well they’ve done it again! The Bell Warriors Football Club is excited to announce that Ontario Iron Works of Greely, owned by Carmen Schwartz and her brother Kevin, have just made a substantial sponsorship donation to the club and is now the newest Gold Sponsor!
(Carmen, Steven & Ken Schwartz – Gold Sponsors of the Bell Warriors Football Club)
The Warriors find themselves in a precarious position this year, as many do, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We took on substantial expenses in the Winter months as we always do every year preparing for our April indoor clinics – Spring Co-Ed Flag football program and Spring Girl’s Touch football program. We also spent money refurbishing and reconditioning all of our helmets for the fall tackle football season and this year we had to make the difficult decision to purchase more helmets to ensure we had enough helmets in inventory. Aside from that, we still have to pay to store our equipment and insure it. With next to no revenues for this calendar year, we have been forced to dip into our reserves quite substantially to maintain operations. COVID-19 has had a dramatic effect on our non-profit youth club,” states Paul Stewart, Bell Warriors President.
Carmen along with her husband Ken Schwartz were both significant volunteers with Bell Warriors over the past decade. Ken was a coach and equipment manager, while Carmen was a team manager and eventually a V-P of Administration. In 2015, Carmen was named, Bell Warriors Volunteer of the Year and was honoured as the league’s (NCAFA) Volunteer of the Year. Their two sons Daniel and Steven both played for years with the Warriors and their daughter Kayla Schwartz was often an eager club volunteer as well.
(Daniel Schwartz poses with the team management after winning the 2018 Jim Wagdin Post-Secondary Bell Warriors Scholarship. l to r: Richard Baylin (VP), Daniel Schwartz, Paul Stewart (President), Tim Sheahan (past VP), Joe Papalia (Coach), Dan Crabtree (VP). Photo: Daniel Schwartz)
“The Bell Warriors give so much back to their players, families and our community. They became a fixture in our family’s lives and we wanted to be there to help them especially this year knowing the challenges the club is facing due to this pandemic,” said Ken Schwartz.
“You can’t beat the Schwartzes. They are great friends with many of our legacy volunteers and for them to continue to give back long after their sons have graduated from the program is a testament to their business, Ontario Iron Works, and their entire family. This is a financial and emotional pat on the back. We desperately needed both and can’t thank the Schwartzes enough for being there (again) for our Warriors,” summarized Mr. Stewart.
For 65 years, the Bell Warriors Football Club has offered football programs for boys and girls ages 7-23 in the communities of Britannia, Bayshore, Bells Corners, Crystal Beach, Munster, Richmond and Stittsville. To learn more about the Bell Warriors Football Club sponsorship program, go to www.bellwarriors.ca/sponsors/ or email info@bellwarriors.ca.
