More than 700,000 given chance to pursue their dreams

We are fortunate to live in a country with great facilities to pursue sports and recreational activities, but the reality is that one in three Canadian families cannot afford to enrol their kids in organized sports or physical activity programs.

Seven years ago, Marlee Stein wanted to learn to skate, but she didn’t think it would be possible coming from a family of four kids and facing the struggles of a parent battling illness.

Through a family support service in her community, Marlee and her family were introduced to Canadian Tire Jumpstart. Jumpstart supported Marlee’s skating lessons and Skate Canada membership through financial assistance.

A year after lacing up her skates for the first time, Marlee decided to turn her desire to skate into a goal: To one-day join the Canadian Olympic Figure Skating team. Through Jumpstart, Marlee is able to continue her skating lessons and is working to achieve this dream.

“Jumpstart helped me get the lessons I needed to enter some very challenging provincial and national figure skating competitions in Canada,” she said. “With all the lessons I have taken, I hope it opens up opportunities to eventually become a part of the Canadian Olympic team.”

“We assist with costs associated with registration, equipment and/or transportation,” said Dan Howlett, director of operations and community programming, Canadian Tire Jumpstart. “We also lend support to unique initiatives aimed at increasing access to sports and physical activity programs in communities.”

By removing financial barriers associated with sports and physical activity, Jumpstart makes it possible for all kids to pursue their dreams. Last year, Jumpstart invested more than $14 million back into Canadian communities to help 154,965 kids play, and it is aiming to help even more kids this year.

Since 2005, Jumpstart has given more than 700,000 kids like Marlee a sporting chance, but there are many Canadian kids left on the sidelines. You can do your part to give kids a sporting chance by volunteering your time at events, hosting your own fundraiser, making a donation, or simply informing any families who would benefit from participating in sports and physical activity programming.

Jumpstart’s vision is to provide all kids with the chance to pursue their dreams. To learn more about how you can get involved with Jumpstart, visit canadiantire.ca/jumpstart.