REPEAT: Skate To Great Collects Skates for Kids at Nathan Phillips Square

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 4, 2012) - Two young Torontonians are launching a new charity to collect used skates for kids this weekend at Nathan Phillips Square. Kaitlyn Weaver - rated second in Canada's Senior Dance Figure Skating, and Evan Kosiner, a young entrepreneur and Radio and Television Arts student from Ryerson, joined forces to encourage people to donate their used skates to those young people that simply can't afford them.

"Canadian winters are all about getting together with friends for a quick game of shinny or labouring over a figure eight on the ice," said Kosiner. "But there are a lot of kids that will never have a chance to skate and that just isn't right if you're a kid in Canada."

Partnering with Lowe Home Improvement's, Skate To Great will have a "mini-rink" beside the skating rink at Nathan Phillips Square where they are asking people to drop off their gently used, but no longer fitting, figure and hockey skates that will be passed on to youngsters anxious to learn to skate. FedEx Express Canada is providing Skate To Great with free shipping services to get all skates received from this event to their new home. FedEx Express Canada is also donating $5,000 towards the purchase of new skates in support of this initiative.

"There are so many children in Canada whose families cannot afford skates, lessons or necessary ice time to learn how to skate. This is where Skate to Great comes in," says, Weaver. "By helping out these families and giving these children a free pair of skates, this organization is opening up their minds to dream."

This Sunday, March 4, join these young people as they collect skates to donate to children who are blind and visually impaired across the country from Courage Canada.

John Carmichael, Member of Parliament for Don Valley West, Tyler Armes of the popular Canadian band Down with Webster and figure skaters Piper Gilles and Paul Poirer will be on hand at 3 pm to receive the public's used skates and FedEx Express Canada's generous donation.