A Devastating Fire Destroyed our Rink & Equipment

UPDATE: THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING SUPPORTERS
We are humbled by the outpouring of support by our hockey community, family and friends. 

Any funds exceeding our $20,000 goal will go toward the additional costs incurred because of the fire, such as an on-site storage unit, replacement of our larger items for the future, and additional ice costs should we need to purchase ice at other rinks for games and for the difference in rental cost between Rink 2 and Rink 1.


Central Kentucky Hockey Association, (“CKHA”) is a non-profit (501c3) whose mission is to promote, encourage, and improve the sportsmanship, physical fitness, and character of youth ice hockey players in Central Kentucky.

On Monday, July 19th a large fire consumed Rink 2 of the Lexington Ice Center; a second home to the hundreds of youth players and families CKHA serves through our various programs. This was our primary rink for practices, games and tournaments for the last 10 years.

This program is, and has been, life-changing to so many young people in our community. While our accredited, volunteer coaches work to develop good hockey players, they are equally focused on developing good people and equipping them with life-skills that they’ll carry with them long after their days on the ice.

Our program will continue this season, as Rink 1 luckily still stands unscathed, but the impactof this disaster is nothing short of devastating.

While Lexington Ice Center will eventually restore the facility itself, much of what was lost belonged to CKHA and may not covered by the facility’s insurance. If some of it is covered, the replacement cost will likely far outweigh any reimbursement from insurance that we receive.

 

An official loss inventory is still being conducted, as it is still unsafe and the investigation into the cause is still pending, but it doesn’t look good. The damages are significant and there will be substantial cost to to recover all that we lost in the fire.

 

Sadly, we lost many treasures that simply cannot be replaced – championship banners autographed by our kids, hard-fought trophies, and other memorabilia given to us by some of our NHL heroes and Thoroughbred alumni.

 

In total, we will need to raise more money than what we are asking for today; however, $20,000 will restore our hockey program for the hundreds of CKHA youth players and countless other players for the immediate future.

 

We have a year to recover all that was lost, but we have some critical equipment that we must replace before our season starts in just 8 weeks.

 

• Some of our most expensive equipment - rebounders, youth hockey goals, passing nets, rink dividers, were consumed by the fire. Most of this costly equipment is critical, especially to our youngest players. We need $14,000 to replace this equipment.

 

• We lost a significant amount of pucks, cones, rings, passing and stick handling aids – items that add up to a considerable expense to replace the quantity we now need for games and practices. We need $6,000 to replenish these essential supplies.

 

Can you please help us replace these critical items that were destroyed in the fire?

 

After completing a hockey season amid a global pandemic, we are now presented with another unique set of challenges. With only one sheet of ice to share between the various programs and public skating sessions currently offered by Lexington Ice Center, securing ice time will be more challenging, and more expensive. We can, and will, make this work, but it is not a permanent solution.

 

Lexington Ice Center has committed to providing a new building and a new sheet of ice, but CKHA, parents, and past donors have provided many hockey-related improvements over the years. We have not determined the replacement cost of everything yet, but plan on using additional fundraising sources for when needed. In the meantime, we're asking to raise $20,000 by September 15, 2021 for our immediate needs listed above.

 

We would be so grateful for any gift you would be willing to give to help our CKHA family recover from this devastating fire. Every gift counts.

 

On behalf of our CKHA players and families, thank you for reading our story, sharing it with others, and contributing whatever you can to help us rebuild our hockey home.