LOSS HAS A SILVER LINING
Support pours in for family after van stolen
In the week leading up to a Sunday playoff game, Regina Riot quarterback Aimee Kowalski said the team hasn’t focused on its stolen jerseys so much as it has the stolen van belonging to equipment manager Bre Deren.
When Deren’s white 2016 Chrysler Town & Country van was stolen from her south Regina driveway last Sunday evening, inside it was $15,000 worth of team uniforms, not yet put away after a photo shoot earlier that day.
But the van was a bigger loss. Deren and her wife, Amery Deren, a running back on the Riot, have five foster children.
“It sucks that they had to have this mishap in their family,” Kowalski said. “They’ve got a big family of foster kids, so that’s kind of been the talk of what’s going on.”
With twin babies among their children, “It was quite hard for us to know that all of our car seats were in there,” said Bre Deren.
“We had a van specifically because we needed the seats, the seven seats for all of our children, so that was hard.”
While Deren recognizes that her family is all safe, healthy and happy, the theft of the van has been inconvenient.
“For us to go out now to anything, if we want to go to our son’s baseball game, we have to take two vehicles or really plan around that,” said Deren.
“They’re all in activities. Our three-year-old is in mini flag football this year. Our son plays RMF (Regina Minor Football) and the kids are in ringette. They’re very active in sports.”
This week, the parents have relied on babysitters or other drivers to support them.
Recognizing this hardship on the family, Riot teammate Adrienne Zuck wanted to do something about it.
She started a GoFundMe campaign on Thursday with the goal of raising $2,000 to help out the Derens.
“We all know how insurance claims can go, not to mention replacement of car seats, a stroller, accessories, car rentals, deductibles, and on and on,” Zuck wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Deren said it was “very natural” to become foster parents in 2013.
Aside from knowing other foster parents, both women work with children.
Bre studied early childhood education and worked in preschools, while Amery is an occupational therapist who focuses on pediatrics.
“We’ve seen kids that are flourishing, we’ve seen kids that are struggling, and it wasn’t even much of a conversation, it was just, ‘When can we take the courses?’ ” Bre Deren said.
Deren hasn’t heard anything about the van or its contents yet — even though Riot team members have probably searched “all the streets of Regina” checking dumpsters.
But a silver lining to the situation has been the outpouring of support her family and the team have received.
“Right off the hop, (Riot members) were asking if we needed car seats or if we needed help getting kids to and from school or whatever we needed, they were willing to help,” said Deren.
Teams in the Western Women’s Canadian Football League have reached out to help, as have local high school teams.
The Regina Thunder, the local junior men’s football team, was the first to step up, lending its jerseys to the Riot.
“Their equipment manager, Dave (Gates) ... he said, ‘Just come on down, bring your players, we’ll fit them and we’ll get you guys out on the field.’ They have been an absolute godsend for us.
“It’s just been inspiring to know that there are so many people that care and so many people that really want to help,” added Deren.
To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, visit gofundme.com/ football-family-loss.