How a B.C. high school student is ensuring every child has sports gear

Vancouver high school student Cameron Lee and his father Matthew are loading up the car with hockey gear – everything from skates, helmets, shoulder pads and pants – preparing to head to the Yukon to deliver it to a minor hockey league.

It’s all part of his initiative – Sports for Support – aimed at enhancing access to community sports for youth.

Lee started the organization while working a part-time job at a local hockey store. He says the “vast amount of second-hand and used equipment customers would ask to dispose (of).”

“A lot of this gear was being thrown in the garbage, for me that was a missed opportunity to provide it to a community in need,” explains Lee.

It started in 2022, slowly gaining more traction with donations from local community organizations like Mom2Mom, Aunt Leah’s, and now the Vancouver Canucks.

He’s collaborating with the hockey team, receiving a sponsorship from AirNorth to fly up to the Yukon and deliver the gear.

“I am going to meet with some of the executives with Whitehorse Minor Hockey and all this gear will be distributed among all the youth in the Yukon, Whitehorse especially, remote communities as well as Indigenous communities,” says Lee.

Lee’s father Matthew says it has been a joy to witness his son’s passion and desire to help others, learning his own lessons along the way.

"Don't be afraid to fail, make mistakes, make a lot of them, make them when you’re young, because that’s really where the growth comes from. We want them to be good people, hard workers, and give back to their communities,” he says.

The gear costs upwards of $10,000 something many families can’t afford. Lee says it has been a humbling experience witnessing the impact that the donations have on many young kids.

"I got to meet a kid my age with Mom2Mom and it was super impactful for me to provide this equipment to someone who is my age, someone who I will play against in minor hockey,” he says.

At just 16 years old, Lee hopes the initiative can grow beyond the borders of B.C. and provide gear to any child who needs it.