The Yorkton Harvest Midget 'AAA' Hockey Club have announced that Harvest Meats, the main corporate sponsor of the team since 2002, has opted not to re-sign their sponsorship contract for the future.
This means that the Harvest are in need of a new corporate sponsor for not just the upcoming season, but for the foreseeable future as well. "Well what happened is that Harvest Meats originally signed a five year contract. When that ran out they re-signed for another five years. This time when it ran out they decided not to re-sign," said Garth Simms, the acting General Manager of the Yorkton Harvest. "Like with every other corporation or with every other business, their financial direction changes; they simply got to a point where they decided that they can put their resources in different places. Therefore we are looking for new assistance."
The new assistance that Simms speaks of is a primary corporate sponsor. However Simms says that the hockey club will also accept any and all smaller donations and sponsorships from local and non-local businesses. "We would definitely consider whatever people can put forth to us," offered Simms. "We may have one major sponsor for our club because that's the way we've operated since the beginning, but that's not the only business that has helped us over the years."
Without a major corporate sponsor and several minor sponsors the Harvest, who operate on a budget north of $200,000.00, would be unable to ice a team for the upcoming season; something that hasn't happened in over 30 years.
Simms also mentioned that the team is looking for volunteers who are willing to assist the team with its day-to-day functions such as fundraising and helping organize billets. "Every year we look for new volunteers so if there are people in the community that are looking to get involved with a hockey team on the outside please contact myself or Glen Fafard at (306) 783-0789 or by email at [email protected]."
Simms continued to stress just how important it is that the hockey club receives corporate sponsorship before the 2014-15 season begins, otherwise there may not be a Midget 'AAA' hockey season in Yorkton for the first time since the early 1980s. "We need to find a new corporate sponsor and that is our main goal," offered Simms. "However we also want to stress that any help that people offer, whether it be financial or volunteer based, will be accepted. Especially if the person volunteering is dedicated to helping the hockey club."
