1999

Norm Flynn, a former WHL hockey player, has a dream. He wants to provide an opportunity for disadvantaged kids from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to play hockey.

He develops an idea and starts a foundation called H.E.R.O.S. – the Hockey Education Reaching Out Society. He assembles an advisory board of hockey lovers, both children and peers.

Flynn and his friend and fellow board member Casey McCawley travel to New York City to investigate a similar program, Ice Hockey In Harlem. While in New York, they visit the NHL head office in Manhattan. H.E.R.O.S. is invited to become a Canadian affiliate of the NHL Diversity Program.

Flynn and McCawley are very impressed with the Harlem program and the children’s enthusiastic response. The two immediately return home to augment the H.E.R.O.S. program with all their newly acquired information.

The H.E.R.O.S. concept is presented to and accepted by the Vancouver School Board. A task force of teachers, youth and family workers begins selecting interested students who will benefit most from the program. The VSB chooses participants from five elementary schools near Britannia Community Centre where the program will run.

CIBC Wood Gundy at Park Place in Vancouver provides H.E.R.O.S. with its first major donation: $25,000, enough for the entire first year of operations.

Flynn does more fundraising to cover the cost of ice rentals, liability insurance, printing, advertising, supplies, sticks, jerseys, phone service, storage and equipment trucking. The NHLPA Goals & Dreams Fund donates all of the equipment.

With the support of sponsors, volunteer H.E.R.O.S. staff and board members, Flynn and his team are well on their way to making the H.E.R.O.S. dream a reality.

2000

• The summer of 2000 marks the first H.E.R.O.S. Summer Camp. Forty-five children take part in a
   fun-filled, five-day summer camp.
   This is followed by a winter program of weekly, three-hour sessions starting in late fall.

• The H.E.R.O.S. Behaviour Program is introduced at twice-monthly afternoon sessions to encourage
   positive behaviour and develop essential life skills.

• H.E.R.O.S. partners with the Vancouver Canucks, the local NHL hockey team, to create awareness
   of the importance of literacy.

• H.E.R.O.S. hosts its first annual Christmas party. For many of the children, this is their only
   Christmas celebration.

• H.E.R.O.S. caps off the end of the season with its first annual awards celebration. Certificates and
   awards are given to each HERO to recognize their commitment and achievement.

2001

• Building on its success, 50 children take part in the H.E.R.O.S. Summer Program. More families show
   up to cheer or volunteer their time, reflecting the program’s positive effects on behaviour and    attitude at home.

• CIBC Wood Gundy Park Place renews its commitment to the H.E.R.O.S. program with what becomes
   an annual donation.

• The NHLPA Goals & Dreams Fund boosts its support by donating more equipment to the program.

• H.E.R.O.S.’ growing funding support enables the program to send its first participant to play in the
   sixth annual Willie O'Ree All-Star Weekend in Tampa Bay, Florida. The event, named in honour of
   the first black hockey player in the NHL, features two all-star games, a skills competition, and the
   once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet NHL stars.

• The second annual Christmas party is a huge success. H.E.R.O.S. provides buses and tickets to take
   the children, many of whom had never experienced a live hockey game, to see the Vancouver
   Canucks play at GM Place.

2002

• The Vancouver School Board honours H.E.R.O.S. with the Program of the Year Award.

• H.E.R.O.S. becomes a federally registered charity.

• Another 45 children complete the H.E.R.O.S. Summer Camp and return for the Fall Program

• H.E.R.O.S. sponsors continue their generous commitment of time and resources. This enables
   H.E.R.O.S. to send another child to the Willie O'Ree All-Star Weekend in Columbus, Ohio, supported
   by the NHL Diversity Task Force.

2003

H.E.R.O.S. marks its fourth Summer Camp in Vancouver. Word about the program spreads. So many new participants – including many more girls – want to take part, that demand exceeds capacity.

H.E.R.O.S. receives the prestigious CIBC Miracle Maker Award, of which only four are awarded annually across Canada.

H.E.R.O.S. sponsors another child to participate in the NHL Diversity Willie O'Ree All-Star Weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Four other H.E.R.O.S. children are sent to local minor hockey leagues, and H.E.R.O.S supplies their equipment and registration fees. Two of these children had never skated before beginning the program in 2000, and one of them played on the league’s winning team.

2004

• H.E.R.O.S. introduces a second new component, the H.E.R.O.S. Mentorship Program.

• Five more girls are welcomed into the system, expanding the diversity of the program.

• The H.E.R.O.S. Mentorship Program invites children 14 years or older, some of whom had already
   been through the H.E.R.O.S. Program, to return as volunteer mentors. These students help with
   weekly sessions, on and off the ice, as they work through a seven-step certification process
   towards a H.E.R.O.S. mentorship diploma.

• A monthly H.E.R.O.S. Guest Speaker Series is added to the H.E.R.O.S. program, and a partnership
   with the Vancouver Police Department and its Drug Awareness Program is formed.

• Frontier College offers to help with tutoring services for H.E.R.O.S. participants and mentors. Group
   homework clubs are established.

• In H.E.R.O.S. fifth year of operation, the program asks for and receives more equipment from the
   NHLPA Goals & Dreams Fund to outfit the increasing number of new participants and its fast
   growing teens.

• H.E.R.O.S. administrative duties are lightened through a partnership with the Urban Native Youth
   Association (UNYA), which provides H.E.R.O.S. with temporary staff.

• H.E.R.O.S. sends another child to the NHL Diversity Willie O’Ree All-Star Weekend in Anaheim,
   California. More H.E.R.O.S. players wishing to move on to minor hockey leagues are supported with
   equipment and registration fees.

2005

• H.E.R.O.S. begins expanding across Canada, and the Board aggressively pursues new funding.
   Scouting begins for head coaches, volunteers, ice time, and local school board participation in
   Toronto and Calgary.

• On October 28, 2005, the Toronto H.E.R.O.S. Program is officially launched. NHLPA representatives
   Mike Gartner (NHL Hall of Fame member) and Steve Larimer (member of the
   1994 Stanley Cup-winning New York Rangers) are on hand for the celebration. Steve Podborski
   (World Cup downhill sensation and TELUS VP Sports Marketing) presents a three-year funding
   commitment from TELUS for $305,000.

• The first H.E.R.O.S. franchise marks its inaugural year of operation at Moss Park Arena in Toronto's
   Regent Park district. Thirty boys and girls take part, many of whom are from countries as far
   away as Sudan, Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic.

• The "Posivication" Program – developed by H.E.R.O.S. – is a unique concept to encourage positive
   behavior in participants. Written positive reinforcement is introduced as a new in-school behavior
   program and officially recognized by the Vancouver School Board.

2006

• A Calgary H.E.R.O.S. program is launched at the Ernie Starr Arena in SE Calgary. Thirty-two boys
   and girls from four schools take part.

• The first two Vancouver H.E.R.O.S. Mentorship Program graduates are accepted into post-secondary
   programs at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver’s Langara College.

• H.E.R.O.S. partners with the Stephen Marshall Foundation to provide a five-year Legacy Fund
   commitment to help support the Toronto H.E.R.O.S. Summer Program.

• Cassondra Abotossaway receives the first TELUS HERO Award at an awards celebration in Toronto,
   for her dramatically improved academic performance, leadership and school attendance while in
   the H.E.R.O.S. Program.

• Relationship building with TELUS is enhanced when H.E.R.O.S. is designated as a “Marquee Program”
   for community support.

• A H.E.R.O.S. Tutoring Program for high-school students is introduced to help H.E.R.O.S. Mentors,
   Leaders and Participants with their studies.

• H.E.R.O.S. partners with the Vancouver Police Drug Squad to create the Police/Junior Hockey Drug
   Education Awareness Program. It uses junior hockey league players as ambassadors to speak in
   schools about the dangers of taking and selling illegal drugs.

• After six years as a volunteer, H.E.R.O.S. founder Norm Flynn is officially hired as H.E.R.O.S.
   Executive Director.

• A H.E.R.O.S. LINO Art Program is introduced at the Vancouver H.E.R.O.S. Summer Camp to develop
   artistic self-expression and build self-confidence.

• H.E.R.O.S.’ Board of Directors votes to expand nationwide with new H.E.R.O.S. franchise programs
   scheduled for Edmonton in 2007 and Montreal in 2008.

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