Over $20,000 was raised in a hockey tournament dedicated to the memory of Travis Gillespie.
The York Regional Police Constable was killed in a collision on his way to work on September 14, 2022.
The tournament took place at the Warkworth Arena and Community Centre on March 11.
Travis’s brother Dan says it was heartwarming to the see the support.
“My family can’t thank enough all of the proud supporters, all the volunteers that helped out throughout the day,” Gillespie tells Quinte News.
“It was just amazing to see the turnout, to see everyone come together and it was a much happier time than ‘Hey guys. We’re at the funeral. Everyone’s welcome to come back for a bonfire at Gillespie house.’ That was sad, very sad. This was more of a celebration of Travis and honouring and remembering his life. You can see by the turnout how special Travis was to everyone he met.”
The funds raised from the tournament go towards Hearts for Martial Arts and the Warkworth Minor Hockey Association.
Gillespie says those two organizations helped represent Travis’s passions.
“We knew that Travis would be smiling down on us knowing that we’ve raised money to help out some local kids and some kids that wanted to get into MMA but just didn’t have the funds to be part of a gym,” Gillespie says.
“Knowing that those were his passions between hockey, kids, mixed martial arts, we wanted to kick back to the community, not just our local community but his community that he grew into in the Toronto-GTA area and we wanted to help out some kids.”
A final total for how much was raised is expected to be determined on Friday.
Further donations can be sent to travisgillespiememorial@gmail.com.
