In just over a week, 15 NHL stars will swap their sticks for bats, and suit up for the first ever Gorges-Comeau HOMEBASE Charity Slo-Pitch Tournament.
And thanks to a unique partnership with Okanagan Lifestyle Apparel Inc, they’re sure to be looking chic in their baseball jerseys.
The beloved local brand has teamed up with the KGH Foundation to outfit the roster of NHL players in custom, one-of-a kind baseball jerseys in a design that the founder of Okanagan Lifestyle, Jaclyn Robertson, says “was inspired by a marriage between unwavering community pride, and a desire for authentic connectivity within our local and visiting communities, in every stage of well-being.”
Indeed, the HOMEBASE event, presented by Raymond James, is proving to be a catalyst in bringing NHL players, local businesses, families and friends together to raise the funds needed to build JoeAnna’s House, a home away from home for the families of patients who are required to travel to Kelowna General Hospital for advanced medical care.
The cause hits home for Robertson. Her son, Indy, now a thriving two year old, was born 8-weeks premature in 2016. Robertson and her husband, Ryan, spent six weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at KGH. They became close with other families, most who lived outside the central Okanagan. Witnessing the added burden that being away from home placed on these families in a vulnerable time, had a deep impact on the Robertson family.
“Living out of the NICU redefined the concepts of both ‘home’ and ‘teamwork’ for us” says Jaclyn. “It very much took an entire team of doctors and nurses to keep my son alive. The experience gifted us perspective and new found gratitude for the privileges we are privy to here in Kelowna- especially by means of KGH and the support it provides to the unwell. We saw with our own eyes and hearts the need for a homebase for families whose loved ones are here receiving care. With everything happening around the globe today, I’d love to see our city standing together in setting the example for opening our doors and caring genuinely for one another.”
In addition to the custom player jerseys, Robertson and her team have designed a ‘Home Team’ Capsule Collection for both adults and children, in which 100% of the sales proceeds will be donated to JoeAnna’s House.
The Okanagan Lifestyle Apparel brand has become near and dear to both the local Okanagan community and NHL players’ community alike. Over the past 4 years, the business has rocketed to international success, largely due to its unprecedented popularity with A-list celebrities, from county music stars and actors, to professional hockey players. Known in our local community for their quintessential authenticity, clean branding, and outstanding collaborations (charitable and otherwise), Okanagan Lifestyle’s quarterly collections have found a level of success often selling out online within days of release.
The OKGN ‘Home Team’ collection launches onlineokanaganlifestyle.ca this Friday, June 22 and will also be available for sale at the HOMEBASE All-Star Game on Friday, June 29.
For more information on the All Star game and tickets: www.kghfoundation.com/homebase/
The KGH Foundation is an independent, volunteer-driven charitable organization committed to enhancing the delivery of healthcare to the patients of Kelowna General Hospital and its associated facilities.