Clockwise from left, Corey Chmelnyk (left), and his wife Jodi Chmelnyk (right) (both of PBR) with Colby Cave’s parents Allan and Jennifer Cave; the Chmelnyks with Mona Leece (BTEC executive director) (centre) and BTEC participants; and the Chmelnyks with Karen Linsley (Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan), (centre left), and Suk Singh (main manager of North Battleford’s McDonald's restaurants), (centre right). (submitted photos) 

By Angela Brown

PBR Classic

PBR donates about $23,000 to BTEC, Colby Cave Foundation and Ronald McDonald House

Jan 30, 2023 | 1:39 PM

The North Battleford Professional Bull Riders (PBR) made a big donation recently to help a number of charity organizations in the area.

The PBR committee presented a total of $22,941 to three charities from its
McDonald’s Colby Cave Memorial PBR Classic event held in North Battleford on July 27, 2022.

The Colby Cave Memorial Foundation received $2,500; Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan $5,732; and the Battlefords Trade and Education Centre (BTEC) was awarded $5,732 plus another $8,975 as BTEC looked after the bar sales and the 50/50 ticket draw at the event.

Colby Cave’s parents, Jennifer and Allan Cave, were among those present for the donation ceremony.

PBR Classic event organizer Corey Chmelnyk said it’s always great to see how much the event is able to support the community every year. This year was the event’s seventh.

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“We actually do quite well,” he said. “It seems like it is getting more traffic every year, and we have been doing more in our community, that’s for sure.”

Chmelnyk said the organization was pleased to also donate to the Colby Cave Memorial Foundation this year in memory of Colby, the 25-year-old Edmonton Oilers forward from Battleford who died after suffering a medical emergency in April 2020.

“Colby Cave was a local hockey player, and he loved going to the PBR [event]. He came every year and he enjoyed it,” Chmelnyk said, adding that the PBR organization wanted to honour Cave’s memory by showing its support.

The PBR Classic has long contributed to organizations that benefit the community over the years.

Last year, the BTEC celebrated its new Snoezelen Room, which it named The Corey and Jodi Chmelnyk Snoezelen Room “in appreciation of the support they have given us on behalf of the North Battleford PBR Committee,” according to the BTEC. The Snoezelen, or controlled multi-sensory environment (MSE), provides therapy for people with autism and other developmental disabilities, dementia or brain injury.

BTEC executive director Mona Leece said the recent PBR donation will further help add more sensory items to benefit the Snoezelen Room space.

The next annual PBR Classic event in North Battleford will take place in July 2023.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow