Members of the McKnight Mustangs were busy working off the ice on Sunday to help support an agency that builds confidence for women in need in Calgary.

The team was pitching in to help clean and sort piles of jewelry donated to the Gems for Gems charity, a group that delivers the finished products to women’s shelters in the city.

The effort is aimed at raising awareness of domestic abuse in Calgary and helping the victims at the same time.

Jordan Guildford, founder and CEO of Gems for Gems, says the team gathered an enormous quantity of items that can be cleaned up and given out as Christmas gifts this holiday season.

“We really seek to show women that they matter and not just to themselves but to us to. It’s to show them that they are still part of a community that they may feel very isolated from. The jewelry drive was our first initiative to show the women they show up on our radars.”

She says that the fact that a boy’s hockey team is helping out is unbelievably important.

“They’re serving as ray of light and hope, not just to other boys but to men as well. They have taken this leadership role and it seems like such a small thing to collect and package jewelry but the fact that it is what it is and the fact that they are doing it for women who survived domestic abuse, is unbelievably significant.”

The boys will also help out in delivering the gifts to shelters later in the holiday season.