Trailer of bottles collected for cancer research by Regina ringette team stolen

Regina police are investigating after a trailer of bottles collected for charity by a local ringette team was stolen earlier this week.

According to Kirsten Lee, the assistant coach of the U10 Regina Raptors, team officials put in a police report Wednesday after waking up that morning to discover the black 20-foot trailer was taken from its perch on Macrae Drive.

The money raised through the bottles, Lee noted, was set to go partly toward team fees and partly toward cancer research via an Edmonton tournament in January called Ringette Scores on Cancer. She estimated there was $1,500 worth of bottles in the trailer.

“(The girls) were shocked to say the least and they were sad, too. It was pretty neat to see their reactions because it did mean something to them,” Lee said, noting it was “a good life lesson” for the eight- and nine-year-olds.

In the days following the theft, Lee said the team received an outpouring of cash and bottle donations from friends and family once they discovered what had happened over social media.

“Personally, I don’t even think it’s about the money anymore — it’s about that community we’ve built. That’s pretty cool,” she said.

“I’m just happy to see that people do want to bring these girls back up, make them feel good and get them to Edmonton — and, more importantly, pass that on to cancer research.”

Going forward, Lee emphasized that she hopes this “doesn’t leave a bad taste in peoples’ mouths” about team bottle drives — especially given a similar incident with a Grand Coulee hockey team earlier this year.

“People were generous in the first place to donate all those bottles. I feel bad for those people and how they feel because they just had something taken away they gave to us,” she said.

“I just hope when other hockey and ringette teams continue to do bottle drives that people still feel generous.”