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Fighting hunger through hockey

Coast-to-coast ball hockey games raise food for those in need across Canada

In the end, Richard Loat ended up more than doubling his goal.

The SFU student was trying to collect 20,000 pounds of food for local food banks by playing ball hockey all across the country.

The charity event started in Newfoundland on June 23 and culminated with a wildly successful street hockey game on Granville Street in Vancouver on Saturday.

"After 10,500 km, 17 days, 13 cities, and 10 provinces, we raised 42,711 lbs of food for food banks across Canada!," said a Tweet from the official @fiveholeforfood Twitter handle on Monday.

That included 9,390 pounds of food collected in Vancouver alone, a new single-city record.

Five Hole for Food members include Loat, Victor Lo, New Westminster resident Jonathan Buyco, Burnaby resident Lesley Chang and Dixon Tam, who works in the public affairs department at Simon Fraser University.

Loat, well-known in SFU circles for his Vancouver Canucks Twitter commentaries @mozy19, started the drive last year and collected 6,000 pounds of food in nine cities.

The group passed its 20,000 pound goal on July 4 during their stop in Regina.

The tour also included stops in Halifax, Charlottetown, Saint John, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria.

"Food bank inventories are typically lower in the summer, so we're using hockey to bring Canadians together to help others.

"It's a recipe for success that will assist us in feeding many hungry families," said Loat.

www.twitter.com/AlfieLau