A GoFundMe campaign started to help the victims of the Humboldt bus crash and their families has already surpassed $1M, but that’s not the only fundraiser that aims to help out.

In Cochrane, members of the community opened one of the town’s arenas for a special skating event on Saturday, with the full admission cost, five dollars an hour, going towards the relief effort.

Ryan Hilderman, with P3 Sports, helped organize the skate to help out the hockey community because he says that you don’t have to look very hard to find a connection to the tragic situation.

“It hits close to home. Hockey is such a small community that you don’t even have to go very far to connect the dots. Somebody from our community was involved so that’s where your head automatically goes.”

He says that people are coming out because they want to do whatever they can to help the victims.

“There’s not a lot that can be said. This Is just a great vehicle for people going out to have fun doing what we love and forget about it when we’re on the ice and certainly remember and help out a community in need right now.”

Isabella Fauth, a hockey player who came out to take part, says it’s important to raise funds and awareness of the situation, if only to let Humboldt know that the community is in everyone’s hearts.

“I think it just means a lot just so they know that we’re thinking about them and all our prayers are going to them. It means a lot that we just help them out because we know their families are going through a rough time.”

Her father, Kevin Fauth, grew up in Saskatchewan and spent a good deal of time on those rural roads in his youth while he played hockey.

“It really reminds you how lucky you are that you got through those winters safe and sound.”

He says that now that he is a hockey parent and coach, a situation like this reminds him how important family is.

“It really reminds you of what’s important in life and to keep family close and cherish the moments you have with your loved ones.”

A GoFundMe campaign that was established late Friday night has already surpassed its original goal of $500,000 and is well on the way to reach the new $2M milestone.

The campaign says that the money raised will go directly towards helping families with any expenses incurred during their ordeal.

Hayley Wickenheiser said she has donated and shared a link to the campaign herself, saying that it doesn’t take much to show the victims that you care and want to help.

“We’ve got 29 families and half of those are grieving a lost loved one and the other half might have to deal with lifetime injuries and consequences. It’s going to take a lot and maybe that’s the easiest thing we can do now; give up your cup of coffee for the day and put your five bucks into the GoFundMe page and make a bit of difference.”

The Calgary Flames say that they will be paying a special tribute to the Humboldt Broncos ahead of Saturday night’s game against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Players will be wearing Humboldt Broncos logo on their helmets and the organization is planning to make a large financial donation to help the community.

(With files from Stephanie Wiebe and Chris Epp)