Holliston Town Cup Nets $3000 for Holliston Pantry Shelf

It all came together in three weeks, says Holliston High School Varsity Hockey Coach Dan Geary, who participated in a Town Cup event with adult hockey players in Hingham years ago. He envisioned doing the same thing for Holliston.
“It’s always been in the back of my head,” says Geary. When a local teen had the idea of holding a tournament as a fundraiser, Geary was inspired to bring a Holliston adult hockey tournament to life. He began to email people he knew who played hockey, got feedback and more names, and “the list grew to the point I thought we could pull it off.” And so he did.
The first annual Holliston Town Cup hockey tournament, featuring 54 players (50 players, 4 goalies) to benefit the Holliston Pantry Shelf raised more than $3,000 in cash and donated food items. Players paid an entrance fee to face-off in the charity event. The tournament featured four games held at Loring Arena in Framingham, MA on April 6th.
“It was always going to be a fundraiser,” says Geary, who didn’t have a fundraising goal in mind. “To come up with over $3,000 is great. Near and dear to my heart is the food pantry and all the good work those people do.”
“The Holliston Pantry Shelf is overwhelmed with the generosity of the Holliston hockey community,” said Pantry President Steve Bradford. “This large donation will make a significant and meaningful difference for the 200 families in our town that are unable to afford groceries. We are so grateful to the organizers, player participants and volunteers.”
“The hockey community in Holliston is a tight knit group that values camaraderie and competition,” said tournament organizer Dan Geary. “When you couple that with such an important cause like the Pantry Shelf, the players responded by rearranging their schedules so that they could be part of this important benefit tournament.” In talking with the rink, Geary says, the first week of April – between seasons for most kids’ sports – seems like a good time to shoot for future annual events.
Geary added that besides the players, other community members also donated their time and services. Kampersal Farm donated refereeing services by Mark Kampersal for all four games. The event was also supported by Snack it Right, a Holliston High School student organization that aims to provide child-friendly snack items to local food pantries.