Sens remain committed to tornado relief efforts

It's been a week since parts of our community were devastated by a tornado and the Senators, their fans and their partners continue to make a positive impact during the recovery and rebuilding process.

The
GoFundMe campaign
that the Sens launched last weekend has amassed $300,000 to date with donations continuing to flow in, including a $10,000 donation from the Sens players themselves.
Many of the team's partners have also stepped up and made major contributions including $25,000 donations from Bell and Faces Ottawa as well as a $10,000 donation from Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Not to mention the $6,120 that was raised by superfan bRian50r6's merchandise sales. On Friday, the NHL and NHLPA also stepped up to aid the cause, jointly contributing $25,000 to the storm relief efforts.

The Ottawa Senators Foundation pledged to match the first $100,000 raised which only adds to the impressive total generated over the campaign's first 6 days. With the relief efforts continuing in communities like Dunrobin and Gatineau, some of the team's players have begun to throw their support behind the cause.
Craig Anderson recently made a trip out to West Carleton High School, one of the hubs for the recovery efforts in Dunrobin, to lend a hand and thank the large number of volunteers that are helping to restore that community.
"It started with an invite from Napoli's in Stittsville. Between them and a couple other restaurants, they have been taking hot meals out to Dunrobin for the volunteers and victims," said Anderson. "They asked if I wanted to head out there and help serve some food and I was happy to lend a hand."
Anderson also came armed with tickets to upcoming Sens games that he was able to hand out to volunteers and those whose lives were affected by last week's tornado. While spending time with some of the families in Dunrobin, it was a reminder for Anderson of how deeply rooted the Senators are in the community.
"Every family that came through had either suffered some level of damage to their house, had been dealing without power for a long time or the complete destruction of their home," Anderson said. "I got a little emotional talking with one mom who came to the outreach by herself and all she could talk about was her son's room that was all decked out with Senators stuff. It's been totally destroyed by the tornado and you could see the tears in her eyes."
"It puts life in perspective," he continued. "We have a huge impact in people's lives with what we do and we need to use the opportunity that we've been given to put some goodwill back into the community...especially after events like this."
Defenceman Chris Wideman also found a way to give back and partnered with a local Booster Juice to help raise funds for the relief efforts on Wednesday evening. Along with meeting fans and selling signed pucks to benefit the recovery process, that location on West Hunt Club pledged to donate $1 from every smoothie sold until the end of the month to the tornado relief campaign which Wideman has pledged to match.
"My buddy actually owns that franchise location and we were talking about doing something to help raise money to support the tornado relief efforts and that's what we came up with," Wideman said. "Anytime that there is a tragic event that affects our community, we have an opportunity to have a positive impact. It's important for us to step up and get involved."

Wideman also praised the members of our community for their overwhelming support of the tornado relief efforts in the first week.
"Ottawa is a tight-knit community so anytime something like this happens the entire city feels it and rallies around each other," said Wideman. "It's great to see everyone stepping up when we need them most and supporting one another, the team and the Ottawa Senators Foundation in such a tough time for the city."
The Senators plan to continue to support the tornado relief efforts in the coming weeks and announced a month-long food drive that will take place at each event or Senators hockey game at Canadian Tire Centre between now and the end of October. The team also shared that fans that had purchased tickets to last Friday's tornado-affected game against the Chicago Blackhawks would be able to claim complementary tickets to one of four upcoming Sens game (more details on how that works can be found
here
).
With the 2018-19 home opener less than a week away, the team remains committed to the tornado recovery efforts and Wideman echoed the importance of the organization's symbiotic relationship with the city.
"This community and our fans support us throughout the season when we're having our ups and downs and we're trying to reciprocate that by getting involved and helping people when they need it," said Wideman. "This team is a huge part of our community and we want people to know that we really appreciate their support and that they can always count on us."
If you have not done so and find yourself able to make a contribution, please consider a donation to the
GoFundMe campaign
that benefits the ongoing tornado relief efforts in our community.