Firebirds Open Doors for Flint Residents to Pick Up Water Monday & Tuesday

Flint, Mich. – On Saturday, Jan. 23, the Windsor Spitfires sent two semi-trucks full of water across the international border to the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint, Mich. A total of 66,000 bottles of water were collected from Essex County, the City of Windsor and Windsor Spitfires fans before the Saturday evening game between the Spitfires and the Firebirds.

“One of our billet families floated the idea to our Coordinator of Fan Development Nathan Sellon, who took the lead on the project,” said Dave Ducharme, Coordinator of Media & Public Relations for the Windsor Spitfires. “Nate was so committed to the idea, that our organization wanted to jump behind him. We opened a call of donations at Thursday’s game and originally thought we may be able to collect a few cases of water for Flint. By Saturday morning, we were up to 66,000 bottles.”

Since then, other Ontario Hockey League franchises like the Sarnia Sting and North Bay Battalion have also began fundraising and collecting cases of water to donate to the City of Flint.

Due to the gracious donations from our OHL partners, the Firebirds are teaming up with American Red Cross Volunteer Services to become a temporary distribution center of water to the residents of Flint.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (EST), Monday, Feb. 1 and Tuesday, Feb. 2 any resident living in Flint, Michigan can pick up two cases of bottled water from the Dort Federal Event Center, while supplies last.

“It’s a great honor to see other teams in the OHL stepping up to contribute to our local cause,” said Costa Papista, Flint Firebirds President. “It says a lot about the caliber of this league and the people involved. It’s incredible, it’s really an amazing sight to see.”

About the Flint Firebirds
The Flint Firebirds are a proud member of the prestigious Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Flint, Michigan, USA. The team is part of the West Division of the Western Conference in the OHL, known as the premiere player development league for the NHL. The Firebirds players, ranging in age between 16 and 20, play their regular season home games at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint between September and March.