A lot of hard work paid off for the Red Deer Boxing Club and the City of Red Deer.
It was announced late Thursday afternoon that Red Deer and the Boxing Club were the winners of a head-to-head battle against Edmonton in the Kraft Celebration Tour.
The Red Deer Boxing Club will receive $25,000 from Kraft Canada for the victory, which came from receiving the most online votes from across Canada over a 24 hour period running from Wednesday noon to 11:59 a.m. Thursday.
“It was an outstanding effort by a lot of people,” said Boxing Club coach Steve Boissoin.
“The club, the Red Deer Optimist Club, the city and even the Alberta Boxing Association pulled together to vote.
“The Capri Centre gave us a suite to use one night and we had 15 laptops set up and number of people voted for 24 hours,” said Boissoin. “It was a collective effort.
“I just cant do justice in trying to talk about what everyone did for us.”
The $25,000 will go a long way in refurbishing the Boxing Club, a non-profit organization which has been running since 1988.
“The club has a lot of history and has done a lot for youth in the community,” added Boissoin. “But the facility needs to be upgraded. Not only the bricks, but the equipment. The John Howard Society has been great in donating the space if we improved the club. We decided at the beginning of this year to do just that and this money helps considerably.”
Red Deer joins Kaslo, B.C. and Kingston, Ont., as one of the 10 winning communities in the Kraft Celebration Tour.
As a result in celebration of TSN’s 25th anniversary, anchors Darren Dutchyshen and Jennifer Hedger will host a special Sportscentre from Red Deer Aug. 24.
“That’s a benefit for all of Red Deer. Just a little more exposure for the city,” added Boissoin.