Fort St. John hockey player raises over $6K for mental health

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John hockey player raised over $6,000 for mental health support through his Lift the Mask on Mental Health campaign launched earlier this year.

Jordan Fairlie was a goaltender for the Prince George Spruce Kings for three years and wanted to do something to give back to the community in his final year due to their unrelenting support.

“I thought this is a good way to be able to give back to the community, and it’s a really good cause that I believe in. I know a lot of people are affected by it, and there’s still a stigma around it,” Fairlie said.

“It’s a good way to not only raise funds for it but also raise awareness and break the stigma around mental health.”

During his campaign, which coincided with the end of the hockey season on March 25th, he raised over $6,000. 

Afterwards, Fairlie sat down with the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern B.C. to decide where the funds would go.

They decided the funds will go towards starting peer support groups in rural communities of northern B.C.

“I asked that, since Fort St. John is my hometown, if we could start something up there, so a lot of the funding is gonna be going to starting mental health resources in Fort St. John,” Fairlie said.

Fairlie’s next hockey career move is playing for the Varsity Blues at the University of Toronto, where he hopes to continue with community engagement and maybe go pro after graduation.

“I’d like to play four years at the University of Toronto and then hopefully get an opportunity to play pro, whether that be here in North America or go across to Europe and play professional hockey for a few years over there,” Fairlie said.

Previously, Fairlie played 15 games for the Fort St. John Flyers U15 AA team during the 2015 to 2016 season.