Generosity inspiring

The effort was Herculean and so too were the achievements. This past weekend, from Thursday at 2 p.m. to Sunday at 2 p.m., 20 young men set the world record for the longest wrestling match ever.

While they wrestled with that goal, they also took on the task of wrestling down hunger. They called the match Wrestling with Hunger, and challenged the community to bring food. They hoped to raised 2,000 pounds. They beat that goal, too, and they raised 3,021 pounds of food and almost $900 to help feed families in the Tri-Cities.

I want to express my profound gratitude to the 20 young men who took on the challenge to sheer exhaustion. Three drove in from Calgary and many had to devote holiday time to be a part of this event. I want to thank Dave Teixeira and his team, who have been planning this event for two years. Even on only six hours of sleep, he was as enthusiastic at the end of the event as he was at the beginning.

Also, thank you to all those who supported this event, including the City of Port Coquitlam, which donated the space, and those who dropped in at all hours with food and drink for the wrestlers.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who came to the match with food and money to help the food bank.

I continue to be inspired and amazed by the generosity of the people living in the Tri-Cities.

Demand in the food bank is on the rise but with support from events like this and others, no one will go hungry.

John Wolff, Chair
SHARE Family and Community Services

Wrestlers go for record

Fifty DVDs and 72 hours later, this weekend’s Wrestling With Hunger fundraiser in Port Coquitlam appears to have been a record breaker.

The non-stop wrestling event, which benefited the SHARE Family and Community Services Society, ran for a total of 72 hours, 1 minute and 50 seconds.

The continuous effort of the 20 wrestlers taking part was mirrored by the community’s generosity, as 3,021 pounds of food were donated on top of about $900.

“It was outstanding,” said event organizer Dave Teixeira. “We had churches, businesses and individuals all dropping off food throughout and we pretty much had one person from the public at all times, which was bizarre.”

The non-stop wrestling event at the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre began at 2 p.m. on Thursday and wrapped up shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

But that’s not to say that Teixeira and others associated with the event feel as though the job is done.

“The goal of this is to write a manual, a how-to, if you will, so that we can provide this to wrestling promotions all around the world so they too can raise money and food for their local food banks,” he said.

Teixeira said he’s now in the process of sending all the event info — specific documentation and upwards of 50 DVDs full of wrestling — to Guinness Book of Records staff to verify the event as the longest pro-wrestling show ever.

John Kurucz - Coquitlam Now

Marathon matches bring in 3,000 pounds for food bank

It was a particularly rough weekend for Kyle O’Reilly and 19 of his wrestling brethren this past weekend in Port Coquitlam. As a rule, independent professional wrestlers don’t have the easiest schedule on the weekends, but the schedule that 20 wrestlers on the ECCW roster had to endure was extreme by any measure. Where an independent wrestler might be expected to wrestle once or twice a weekend, Kyle O’Reilly wrestled close to 40 matches in 72 hours. And he didn’t get paid a cent for any of them.

That’s because the 20 wrestlers for the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling promotion volunteered their time to take part in a wrestling marathon in an effort to raise food donations for a local — and starving — food bank. According to John Wolff, the Chairman of the Board for SHARE Family and Community Services in Coquitlam, B.C., the demand for food has reached epic — and scary — proportions.

“Let’s put it this way,” Wolff said during ECCW’s Wrestling With Hunger marathon. “Twenty per cent of the people that come to the food bank are employed. They have jobs. This recession is hurting a lot of people, and it’s not always the people you expect.”

Dave Teixeira, the promoter behind ECCW, visited the local food bank to see for himself how dire the need was. “It was so empty,” he said of the unstocked shelves. “Like scary empty. It was eye-opening for sure.”

He had always wanted to do something to help out SHARE, and had decided that a wrestling show would help, but with overwhelming need the food bank was experiencing, Teixeira understood he needed to do something spectacular to grab people’s attention and hopefully compel them to donate something as well.

So the plan was hatched to not only hold a wrestling show, but a wrestling event. To grab people’s attention, it was decided that ECCW would attempt to break the world’s record for the longest wrestling show ever which, up to that point, was 10.5 hours. “We didn’t want to just break the world record,” Teixeira said, “we wanted to smash it.”

Besides, the longer the wrestling show, the more time there would be for the public to donate food. So the plan to run a 72-hour wrestling marathon was hatched and it began on April 2nd and lasted until April 5th. Over the course of the three day show, 248 matches were held, ranging in length from 6 minutes to over 20 minutes.

Which brings us back to Kyle O’Reilly, a young and talented wrestler from ECCW in incredible shape who also possesses insane cardio. O’Reilly has been in some of ECCW’s most gruelling and intense matches, but nothing could prepare even him for the challenge of Wrestling With Hunger.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge, but not like this,” O’Reilly said on a two-hour break before his next match. At the time of this interview, he had already wrestled in approximately 20 matches. “My sleeping pattern isn’t that great and it’s hard to maintain my blood-sugar level. But it’s for a good cause which makes it all worth it.”

O’Reilly’s sleeping pattern was off because he had spent the previous night sleeping in his car. In order to preserve the world record attempt, wrestlers were not allowed to leave the property of the Hyde Creek Recreation Center where the event was held. As a result, wrestlers were forced to sleep in darkened rooms in the facility, or, as Kyle did, in their cars. “I ended up sleeping in the car because the trailer out back was full,” a tired-looking Kyle explained. “But I’m hoping my girlfriend is going to bring her van tonight and that might be a bit better.”

Later that night, O’Reilly was going to be working a 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift, wrestling matches off and on for that time period. It was demanding, but doable, he said. “My hat goes off to whoever did the scheduling because it must have been a tough thing to do but they’ve managed to make this as easy as possible for us.”

That doesn’t mean it was at all easy. The wrestlers endured sore limbs, bloody noses and, in a couple of instances, minor concussions as a result of the constant wrestling. “It’s pretty rough,” is how wrestler El Phantasmo put it on a short break from ring action. “I’m tired and a little sore, but it’s all good,” he reported. “Just one more day to go.”

Ten hours later, at approximately 1 a.m., El Phantasmo was still wrestling, albeit not as hard as he usually does. Most of the match consisted of rest holds and interacting with the small crowd that was on hand. But it was an official match nonetheless and it lasted nearly ten minutes. And although the fatigue was apparent on the faces of the wrestlers, not one of them backed down from the challenge. All 20 of them stayed until the very end, and even showed real signs of life during the event’s final hours.

The final match of the marathon was a 20-man Battle Royale, featuring all the wrestlers involved. No shortcuts were taken and with a crowd of over 100 people on hand, the wrestlers seemed to catch some of their energy. Ray Brooks, who up until that point had not won a single match at the event, was victorious and was thusly crowned the new Wrestling With Hunger Champion. The crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause, which was capped by a standing ovation for the wrestlers and volunteers that made the event possible.

They had good reason to cheer. Because of the efforts of the men and women in ECCW, over 3,000 pounds of food was donated. Teixeira had set a goal of 2,000 pounds for the event, and was proud to be able to tell John Wolff and SHARE that that goal had been exceeded.

“I just don’t have words to express how I feel right now,” said Heather Scott, a co-ordinator from SHARE said after the event. “I just don’t know what to say. These are 20 giant guys with giant hearts, what else can I say?”

John Wolff was equally as happy. “I can’t believe this,” he said earnestly. “This is more food than would be donated at six or seven big events. So to get this in one is outstanding. I wonder what all our volunteers are going to think on Monday morning?”

ECCW veteran Scotty Mac was proud of his troops. “I always thought we had the greatest group of guys, but now it’s been proven ECCW has the best group of wrestlers around,” he beamed at the end of the 72-hour marathon. “A lot of these guys were hurt and exhausted throughout this event, but they just kept going. I knew it was going to be hard, but not as hard as it was. And everyone pulled through, so yeah, I couldn’t be prouder.”

Dave Teixeira shared that sentiment and wants to expand the marathon into a yearly event, one that other wrestling promotions might emulate. “It’s a great time to do it during Wrestlemania weekend,” he said. “It would be awesome if other promotions did it, but we’ll see how that goes. The main thing is we got through this weekend, we were able to help out the community and our guys all performed magnificently. Really, what more could you ask for?”

Slam! Wrestling - Fred Johns

Press Release - April 4, 2009

Tackling hunger … for 72 hours

Grappling with hunger while grappling on the mat, 20 wrestlers are staging a 72-hour show in Port Coquitlam in an attempt to set a world record and raise money for food banks in the Tri-Cities. The wrestling began at 2 p.m. on Thursday, and it won’t stop until 2 p.m. on Sunday. By mid-day on Friday, they had already set the unofficial world record for the longest wrestling show ever with 66 matches. The final two hours of wrestling will be open to the public, with a can of food required for admittance. The food will go to SHARE, which operates three food bank depots in the Tri-Cities. In 2007, the organization provided food to 1,142 households totalling 5,598 people.

The Vancouver Sun

Press Release - April 3, 2009

Grappling with hunger

An unlikely tag team is putting a headlock on hunger this weekend in Port Coquitlam.

The athletes of Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling along with Share Family and Community Services have come together for Wrestling With Hunger, an event designed to help re-stock food bank shelves. The group also hopes to set a world record for the longest wrestling event ever.

Starting yesterday and lasting until 2 p.m. on Sunday April 5 there will be non-stop wrestling at the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre. Twenty wrestlers will grapple around the clock and admission is by cash or non-perishable food donation.

The audience will witness over 500 matches in total, with wrestlers rotating in and out at the conclusion of each bout.

Wrestler Volt Vegas has promised to shave his head bald if 2,000 lbs. of food is donated.

“I put my hair on the line for Wrestling With Hunger because I want to help the community out for all the damage I’ve done,” joked Vegas. “As soon as I heard about the event I agreed to take part right away.”

Vegas’ rival, Jamie Diaz, offered his assessment of his enemy’s potential new look: “I think he’s going to look like a big dick. If we don’t get 2,000 lbs. of food, I will personally buy 1,000 lbs. of food myself!”

Wrestler MR2 agrees with Diaz: “I think he could get even uglier, if that’s possible,” he said. “He’s bad enough the way he looks right now!”

Share director of development Heather Scott was impressed by the drive of ECCW.

“I’m new to Share and this is something that Dave Teixeira (ECCW owner) has been working on for months,” Scott said. “I’m totally excited, this is a great concept and I’m thrilled that ECCW chose us to support.”

The economic recession has hurt food banks everywhere and Scott appreciates the commitment that ECCW has shown to the cause.

“Hunger touches everybody and food banks are struggling all over the Lower Mainland,” Scott said. “The more people that hear this message, the better and this event will expose us to a whole new audience. ECCW, in their own unique way are helping us spread this message.”

For more information, check out www.wrestlingwithhunger.com.

Ben Lypka - The Langara Voice

Wrestlers to pile-drive hunger for food bank

In the ring, wrestlers Cole Bishop and Scotty Mac are not known for their charity work.

But next weekend the pair will join 20 of their wrestling brothers in showing off their pile-drivers, knee drops and face locks all for a good cause.

Wrestling With Hunger is a three-day event that will raise money and food for the Share food bank and will hopefully set a Guinness record for longest wrestling show ever.

Event organizer Dave Teixeira promises three days of continuous, around-the-clock wrestling action starting April 2 and ending April 5 at 2 p.m., a feat, he said, that has never been accomplished. And while people get their fill of the fighting in the ring they are encouraged to make a food or money donation to the Share Family and Community Services Society.

Whether or not the wrestlers can endure the wear and tear of continuous entertainment is yet to be seen. But Teixeira said the public is welcome to come down to Hyde Creek recreation centre (1379 Laurier Ave.) and watch the action any time they wish.

“We have people that have told us they are going to come down in the middle of the night… just to keep us honest,” said Teixeira, who added fans can also follow on the Wrestling With Hunger website, where results will be posted after every match.

Teixeira said the facility is perfect for a three-day marathon wrestling event. With a gym and hot tub nearby the wrestlers will be able to keep their bodies in tune for the grueling demands they will face over the weekend. There will even be a trailer with bunk beds where the entertainers can sleep between bouts.

The timing for the event could not be better for the organization, as it has seen food stocks dwindle in part because of the economic downturn. Last year Share served approximately 64,000 people in the region, giving out 225,000 pounds of food worth $600,000.

Earlier this month Share executive director Joanne Granek told PoCo city council she anticipated the number of food bank users to rise, given the current state of the economy.

“A lot of people think about food drives at Christmas time,” said Teixeira. “That food does not last beyond April.”

Even those who are not wrestling enthusiasts are invited to enjoy the event, said Teixeira. The show begins April 2 and will continue until 2 p.m. on April 5. For more information go to www.wrestlingwithhunger.com or contact Dave Teixeira at dave@dave.ca.

Gary McKenna - Tri-City News - Photo credit Craig Hodge

Wrestlers put hunger in a headlock

Giant men with giant hearts.

That’s how Heather Scott of the SHARE Family & Community Services Society describes a group of wrestlers who will stock the food bank’s shelves while trying to set a new world record.

The fundraising initiative Wrestling With Hunger will bring together 20 athletes for a 72-hour round-the-clock wrestling marathon at Hyde Creek Recreation Centre from April 2 to 5.

Food and cash donations will be collected at the event, which aims to earn ranks in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest wrestling show ever.

“What an incredible group of guys to do this. I’m honestly blown away by this event. It’s so unique and exciting,” said Scott, SHARE’s director of development.

“And we’re thrilled that they want to pin down the issue of hunger in the Tri-Cities. We invite everyone in the community to go watch them, night or day, and just bring a can of food with them. This will help us fill the shelves in the food bank, where we’re getting an increasing demand for help.”

The timing couldn’t be better, Scott added, since requests for food from the non-profit organization have recently spiked by 14 per cent.

Between April 2007 and March 2008, SHARE provided food to 5,598 people from 1,142 households through its three food banks, and that number is on the rise. Forty-five per cent of recipients were under 19 years old.

“I think we’re really starting to see the impact of the recession. Anecdotally, what we’re hearing at the food bank is that people are being laid off,” Scott said.

“With the recession, of course, people find it difficult to donate so our food bank donations are down. Unfortunately now more than ever, we really do need the community to come forward.”

Event organizer Dave Teixeira said he hopes local businesses, schools, churches and other organizations will set up food drives to help out with the fundraiser, which he has been planning for the past two years.

“We encourage people not just to come out and watch, but also to bring some food for the food bank. Next year what we’re hoping to do, if this goes well, is to help other wrestling promotions around the world put on similar events in their own backyard and make it an annual event over WrestleMania weekend,” said Teixeira, owner of ECCW Pro-Wrestling since 1996.

“We had so many wrestlers want to be part of it. I think it’s a real tribute to these guys. Some have used the food bank. Others want to be involved in their community. Everyone has a reason for wanting to do this.”

For Port Coquitlam wrestler Jamie Diaz, the main motivation is to show his support for a good cause in the community.

“Hunger is a thing that’s always been around and what better way to fight it than by doing something I love, like wrestling,” said the 19-year-old.

“It’s a great cause. The economy’s down and people are finding it harder and harder to get something to eat and put food on their own tables. I hope we can make a difference and help people not be hungry.”

Coquitlam resident Nicole Matthews plans to referee a portion of the event, squeezing in the volunteer work between study sessions for her kinesiology exams at SFU.

“I just think it’s really important to give back to the community. All the wrestlers who are participating are very lucky to have what they have,” said 22-year-old Matthews, a wrestler for the past three years.

“It’s a tough time for a lot of people and I think it’s really important to give back when you’re not suffering as much as other people.”

Local wrestler Ray Brooks has volunteered at food banks in the past and finds it sad that the shelves are so bare.

“This is just a really cool way for us to help refill them because it’s going to be so much fun. I’m going to be doing what I love and doing it for a good cause at the same time,” said Brooks, better known in the wrestling world as Southern Comfort.

The 31-year-old anticipates he’ll participate in about 30 matches throughout the three-day event, each lasting anywhere from five to 45 minutes.

“I think the most I’ve ever wrestled in three days has probably been four matches, nevermind 30. I think there’s probably going to be a lot of catnapping and a lot of energy drinks,” he said with a laugh.

“The night shift is going to be interesting, I think. I figure ’sleeper hold’ might bring about a whole new meaning at four in the morning. So if I lose that way, then so be it.”

Wrestling With Hunger will run from 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 2 to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 5 at Hyde Creek Recreation Centre, 1379 Laurier Ave. in Port Coquitlam.

After hours, the back doors will be open for spectators to drop by throughout the night. The largest crowd is expected during the last two hours of the world-record attempt. Non-perishable goods and cash donations can be dropped off at the event or brought directly to SHARE, which is also hosting its annual Just Desserts gala fundraiser on April 2.

For more information, visit www.WrestlingWithHunger.com or contact Teixeira at dave@dave.ca or 604-418-9177.

Jennifer Mcfee - Coquitlam Now

Media Advisory - March 20, 2009

CITY OF PORT COQUITLAM TO PROCLAIM APRIL 2ND TO 5TH “WRESTLING WITH HUNGER” WEEKEND
March 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Port Coquitlam, BC - On Monday, March 23, 2009, The City of Port Coquitlam will proclaim April 2nd to 5th “Wrestling With Hunger Weekend”.  This is in recognition of the “Wrestling With Hunger” event where 20 wrestlers will grapple for 72 consecutive hours to set the world record for the longest wrestling match while raising food for the local food banks.

Representatives from SHARE Family and Community Services (who operate the food banks), Dave.ca Communications Inc. (who is organizing the event ) and wrestlers from ECCW Pro-Wrestling will he on hand at the ceremony at City Hall.

Immediately proceeding the proclamation, the above representatives will be available in the foyer on the third floor outside the Council Chambers for interviews and photos ops.

Date: Monday, March 23, 2009
Time: 7pm - Power Point Presentation to Port Coquitlam City Council by the Wrestling With Hunger contingent
7:05pm - Proclamation to Wrestling with Hunger, photo op with Mayor and Council in Chambers
7:10pm - Interview and photos op with SHARE, Dave.ca Communications Inc. and ECCW wrestlers outside Council Chambers

Location: Port Coquitlam City Hall Council Chambers
2580 Shaughnessy Street, Port Coquitlam, BC
Third Floor

For more information on Wrestling With Hunger please visit www.WrestlingWithHunger.com.

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For media inquiries please contact:
Dave Teixeira
Wrestling With Hunger
(604) 418-9177
Email: dave@dave.ca
www.WrestlingWithHunger.com

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