Winnipeg Jets Whiteout parties raise $100K this year for 4 community organizations

The Winnipeg Jets may not have gone far in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs – losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the opening round – but fans still managed to raise a significant amount of money for charity in that short time.

Four Winnipeg organizations received $25,000 each – a portion of the proceeds from Winnipeg Jets Whiteout Street parties ticket sales this year.

New Jets head coach Scott Arniel said he couldn’t be more proud to see how the Whiteout parties have grown since their origins in the ’80s.

“It was an exciting part of my personal hockey story and now that my role has shifted behind the bench, it’s exciting to see not only this tradition still lives on but it has grown tremendously.”

Arniel hopes even more money can be raised in the years to come.

“We’d like that party to last not just one week or two weeks, we want it to last two months so we have lots of money,” he said.

Fans paid $10 for access to the street parties on Donald Street during Winnipeg Jets playoff matches, with half of the proceeds going to United Way Winnipeg. That money was then channeled to four community organizations: Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, N’Dinewemak-Our Relatives’ Place, Siloam Mission and Main Street Project.

“These organizations make sure Winnipeggers aren’t alone during some of the toughest time of their lives,” said United Way Winnipeg president and CEO Michael Richardson.

Greg Kyllo, executive director of Bruce Oake, says the funding comes at a time that it is needed more than ever.

“Our goal is that everyone should have access to long-term high quality life-saving treatment for substance abuse, and it’s days like today that make that possible,” Kyllo said.

True North Sports + Entertainment partnered with United Way Winnipeg in 2019, raising $312,000 over that time through the Whiteout parties to address issues such as homelessness, addiction, and hunger.

“At True North, we not only value the opportunity to impact our community beyond hockey, but we view it as a responsibility,” said Kevin Donnelly, their senior vice-president of venues and entertainment.

–With files from Kurt Black