T
he first few times that Gordie Postula, gas operations manager at DTE, dropped his son off at hockey practice, he sat and watched with the other parents. Then, he figured, “I might as well be doing something.”
So, he started helping to clean up the locker rooms and around the rink after practices. That turned into running the clock and the scoreboard during games. In the time spent at the rink and during weekend travel games, roughly eight months out of the year, “You create a family,” he said.
About five years ago, he and other parents worked on a flyer to invite more families to join the nonprofit Cheboygan Hockey Association. To their surprise, the response was crickets, even though “hockey’s big,” he said. “The further north you go, the bigger it gets.”
He called a few families he knew, and they told him that although their child wanted to play, they couldn’t swing it financially.
Postula estimates the sport costs at least $1,300 a year in ice fees alone, not including equipment and travel expenses. But he’s seen the positives hockey has given to his own family: For his son, he said, “It builds some trust, it builds some appreciation for others. I know that’s something I see in him now. He doesn’t take things for granted; he works hard. I’m glad we did it.”
Postula wanted to help other children have the same experience his son did. He organized golf tournaments to raise funds and started can drives to collect and recycle aluminum cans and bottles, earning 10 cents an item. He was also able to apply for and earn several DTE Care Force grants, which award funds based on the amount of time an employee volunteers. The funds, he said, “are truly appreciated by our association and the families.”
The next flyer, which invited parents to apply for scholarships to cover ice fees and equipment, attracted a much higher response. “We help where we can,” said Postula, who estimates that his fundraising efforts now enable about 20 children a year to join or continue in the sport of hockey. “I’m glad it’s working out—and I’m grateful to work for a great company that really has that avenue that I can find additional support for things that I’m passionate about.
“Again, it’s to help kids get started, make sure they have a place to go play … it’s to keep kids interested, right—and maybe it’ll help them not get into trouble.”