Petes take part in Pencils for Peace campaign

This year, the Peterborough Petes collected over 50 boxes (Approx. 1,000 lbs) full of school supplies to be sent to Afghanistan through a campaign called Pencils for Peace. This campaign is designated to help hundreds of underprivileged students in Afghanistan. Pencils for Peace was started by a 5-year-old boy named Brighton from Ottawa, Ontario.

Brighton’s parents, Lisa and Danny, are both members of the Canadian Military and while deployed overseas, they phoned Brighton one week and explained to him how fortunate he was to be in the Canadian education system because  he has access to school supplies and books. They explained to him that they had visited a couple schools recently, who didn’t have nearly enough.

Brighton decided he wanted to help these children and asked his classmates if they would donate all their school supplies at the end of the year. He collected one full box and sent it with his mom last July when she was deployed again. The children and teachers were so thrilled that they sent letters and pictures with the school supplies, thanking Brighton and his classmates.

Pencils for Peace was brought to the Peterborough Petes Hockey Club through Kathleen Reeves.  While Reeves was working with the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, she met this wonderful hockey loving family and has kept in contact with them ever since.

Peterborough Petes Hockey Club teamed up with Brighton and helped him grow his initiative. Brighton created the campaign name Pencils for Peace and the Petes developed the plan.

The Peterborough Petes and Brighton would like to thank the hard work of volunteers Becky Craig and Alex Foeller, along with all of the following schools in the City of Peterborough and County who participated, and made Pencils for Peace such a tremendous success this year:

RF Downey Public School

North Shore Public School

Queen Elizabeth Public School