Small volunteer ice rink may not open due to wire theft

[crzesk8dad]

Please see the article below. The Yakima, WA ice rink, which is only up in the winter and is operated by volunteers, was robbed of it's copper wiring and may not be able to open. The figure skating and hockey programs may not have a rink, this year, as they need to come up with $5K to 10K to re-wire the place.

As a board member of a successful figure skating club, I have asked my club to make a donation to help them back on their feet. Additionally, I have asked our local NHL hockey team and their owned rinks what they could do to help.

Lastly, I am posting this on FSU to help spread the word and enlist the help of those who are able to do so.

Go to: http://www.yakimaicerink.com/ for more information on how you can help. I believe that they have a donation button on the site, should you be so inclined.

Certainly this could be a great PR opportunity for all involved, but more importantly it seems to me to be the right thing to do. Right for skating, right for hockey, right for the kids.




"Hundreds of feet of copper wire stolen from Yakima Ice Rink

Posted: Aug 28, 2012 3:46 PM PDT
Updated: Aug 28, 2012 3:46 PM PDT
Aaron Hilf, Reporter - bio | email
YAKIMA, Wash.-- With winter just a few months away, The Yakima Ice Rink is getting ready to re-open for hockey and ice skating season. But a recent break-in has created some big problems for volunteers who now say it's going to be struggle just to open.

It's a big blow to the all-volunteer, non-profit organization that runs the only community ice rink in the Yakima Valley.

They say the break-in happened last week and thieves caused thousands of dollars worth of damage.

During the winter months it's not hard to find kids and adults playing hockey and learning to skate at the rink.

It's a rink that depends on the generosity of others and it's now facing an uncertain future after thieves stole hundreds of feet of copper wire.

"They took all of the copper wiring that runs from basically our main panel out to the compressors and everything in between," said Chris Sutherland, the rink's operations and maintenance volunteer.

Sutherland is one of the dozen or so volunteers that work to keep the rink running.

He says they have about 70 kids involved in the hockey and figure skating programs and hundreds more who come down just to skate.

"A couple hundred dollars worth of scrap metal and you've shot how many dozens of kids in the foot because they no longer have a venue to recreate for the winter," said Sutherland.

The organization doesn't have much money in reserves, and with the $5,000-$10,000 repair bill it's going to be a struggle to get going this year.

"To have something like this happen where they really don't have the resources available at hand to fix what's been done, it's hard to watch and not be able to help," said Ian Cain, a hockey player at the Yakima Ice Rink.

"If there's anybody that's out there watching that can loan us any kind of assistance at all, we could certainly use it," said Sutherland.

Sutherland says it's hard to say if they'll be open for skating this winter, but he says they'll do everything they can to get the ice frozen.

[misskarne]

Oh no, that's horrible! I hope they find the little sh*ts that did it and string them up by their most delicate parts!

I hope they can get the place fixed - is there no government grant or something that they could apply for as a non-profit as well?

[Mrs. P]

Crzesk8dad, thanks you for posting this. This is actually the ice rink in my town, and my friend is one of the volunteers. I can tell you first hand that they really run the rink on a shoe string and the rink has been through a lot over the years.

I posted this post to him and I know that he appreciates the support!

[kwanfan1818]

I've clicked the PayPal "donate" button, but it doesn't retain the email address to which the money should be donated. Is anyone else having this problem?

[LilJen]

That's really awful. Poor Yakima!

[Proustable]

I've clicked the PayPal "donate" button, but it doesn't retain the email address to which the money should be donated. Is anyone else having this problem?

I'm having it as well. I emailed them to see if that should be the donation link. They might not have paypal set up.

[Mrs. P]

My friend knows the link isn't working and is trying to fix it. They are also working on an alternative for donations, so I'll get that info over if that's the case.

[Mrs. P]

My friend says the link works now. http://www.yakimaicerink.com/

[ioana]

My friend says the link works now. http://www.yakimaicerink.com/

Yes, it does; just sent in my small donation. Hopefully they can reach their goal & open the rink for next season. Frustrating to see it's community projects like a volunteer rink that get hit with these burglaries .

[kwanfan1818]

Excellent -- worked for me, too.

[Aussie Willy]

Hey good luck with it. I just made a small donation too.

[crzesk8dad]

Hey good luck with it. I just made a small donation too.

Ioana and Aussie Willy: No donation is small. Pennies become dollars.

I am proud to state that the members of the Glacier Falls Figure Skating Club, Inc. donated $500, tonight.

I challenge other skating clubs that are financially able, to meet or beat that number, so that the volunteer operated Yakima Ice rink will be up and running this winter.

"You get back what you give"

[Mrs. P]

Thanks everyone for the support and donations. My friend has been amazed at the outreach from the figure skating community.

[Ztirffritz]

Hi all, I'm Mrs. P's friend. Thank you all for you support. Our rink is in a tenuous position. We've been re-building our skating community for years. Our goal is to build a new facility while we rent the current facility or until it is sold, whichever comes first. This way we can maintain our skating community until we have a new facility. Your assistance helps us to keep our momentum up. We've grown our skating population every year, but if we have any bumps in our operation we're back to square one. We're planning to make the needed repairs to our compressor this weekend and pay for it from our meager savings so that we don't delay our opening, but we'd really like to put that money back into savings so that our goal of opening a new facility can be maintained. As always, your assistance is appreciated. Thank you again for your help and support.

[Aussie Willy]

^ Hey good luck with it. Rinks can be in such tenuous positions, particularly when they volunteer run. Please let us know how the fundraising goes.

[OrioleBeagle]

I just did a small donation on line. I wish I could do more.

[Ztirffritz]

A local company was donated wiring to our rink!
http://www.kimatv.com/home/video/Uni...-ice-rink.html

[misskarne]

A local company was donated wiring to our rink!
http://www.kimatv.com/home/video/Uni...-ice-rink.html

Oh, congratulations! Does this mean you guys will be able to start on time?

[Aussie Willy]

A local company was donated wiring to our rink!
http://www.kimatv.com/home/video/Uni...-ice-rink.html

That is great news.

[Ztirffritz]

Well we have materials now. So if we can find an electrician willing to help us we should be up and running on time. I love getting to see the good side of people. It makes everything better.