JHS hosting scavenger hunt: Girls hockey raises money for cause

Having already raised over $18,000 for Relay For Life, the Jamestown High School girls hockey team wanted to go big for their latest fundraising effort.

With a 50-item scavenger hunt, and a winning prize of a 4-day, 3-night stay in San Francisco, mission accomplished.

“We had been talking about a theme since last year ended and this is what we came up with,” said Karen Finck, who has done most of the heavy-lifting on the project. “We wanted to come up with something challenging. … It’s a pretty nice trip. We wanted to make people work for it.”

Finck, who is mother to JHS senior goaltender Carissa Finck, put up a chunk of her own frequent flier miles for the trip to the Wharf in San Francisco, which includes airfare, hotel and wharf pass for two people.

Additionally, the second-place finisher in the hunt will win a Garmin GPS System; third is $100 cash.

The first 25 items on the list are being unveiled today in the Sun. The second 25 items will be available at the final Blue Jay girls hockey game on Friday night at Wilson Arena.

Teams must fill out registration, which includes $25 fee. Registration fees are available from Karen Finck by emailing kfinck@daktel.com.

The hunt will conclude Feb. 13 with Judgment Night from 6-8 p.m. at Eagles Arena.

Each year, more than four million people in over 20 countries participate in Relay For Life to raise funds in the fight against cancer.

For the Blue Jay hockey team, it’s been a valuable team-building exercise. The team raised over $8,500 last year — the second-highest total in Stutsman County.

“It’s brought us together even closer doing those things,” said senior Steph Kamlitz, who lost a grandmother to the disease. “We’re helping other people and doing it as a team. It’s a great cause and it makes us feel good.”

Winning the scavenger hunt will not be easy. The list is a collection of some everyday items, but also things that will take work.

“Some are hard, some are easy,” said Carissa Finck. “We all contributed ideas to what should be on the list. We got pretty creative.”

Raising as much money as they have despite having a small team encapsulates what has made them successful on the ice. Despite having the smallest roster in the state, the Blue Jays are currently tied for third in the state in points with 34. They own a sparkling 14-5 record. Only West Fargo (16-1) has a better winning percentage in the state.

“I’ve said it a thousand times, but it’s a special group of young ladies,” said coach Brad Schaack, who has raised thousands of dollars for the cause as well. “If you ask them to do something, they’ll either do it, or they’ll put in a heckuva effort trying.”

It’s an opportunity to think of someone other than themselves, too.

“Everybody has been effected by cancer, so this is us trying to do our part to make a difference,” said Larissa Wiest, another of the team’s seniors. “We’re a small team, but we put our heart into whatever we do.”

That certainly applies to their latest efforts, which Karen Finck says is inspiring.

“So many lives and families have been impacted by the disease, it’s just great to see people trying to help other people,” she said. “We’re so proud of what these girls do when they’re on the ice, but they do a lot of really good things off it, too, and this is a great example of that.”

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, hockey