Councillor Brad Bradford visited our campers on the first morning of March Break Camp
The councillor for Beaches-East York came to Ted Reeve on day one, spoke to the campers at the rink, and sat down with them for an unscripted question and answer session.
Open Ice InitiativeMar 23, 20264 min read
On the morning of Monday 16 March, Brad Bradford came to Ted Reeve Community Arena for the first day of our March Break Camp. He did not go on the ice. He came to meet the campers, watch the opening session from the rink, and talk to them.
Bradford is the city councillor for Beaches-East York. Ted Reeve is in his ward, and so are several of the neighbourhoods our campers come from. Every child he met was new to hockey, and many were lacing up skates for the first time.
“Everybody started like this, just how you’re starting right now,” he told them. “Lacing them up and getting out there for the first time.”
In the dryland block he sat down beside Cameron Gaunce for an unscripted question and answer session. The campers asked what leadership means, what a councillor actually does, and whether he had ever been frightened of trying something new. Nobody had given them a list of questions, which is why the answers were worth hearing.
Everybody started like this, just how you're starting right now.
Brad Bradford, City Councillor for Beaches-East York
“Andrew’s initiative to bring people together and give them access to ice time, equipment, coaching and professionals is something that’s truly special,” Bradford said. “Whether you pursue hockey as something you want to do regularly, or you just want to learn and grow from taking those first strokes on the ice, building your resilience and your character, I trust this camp will be something you remember forever.”
Beach Metro Community News covered the visit, and their photographer Jessica Shackleton took the group photograph that has become the defining image of the March Break Camp. Bradford also shared the camp with his constituency through his own channels.
For the campers, the significance was the message they heard: a city councillor came to their rink to tell them directly that they matter.
It is also a marker of something else. What started as one high school student’s project has now drawn in elected officials, professional athletes and national newsrooms, inside a single year.
