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DinoMights 2016 Volunteer of the Year Mike Ervin

Volunteer Spotlight: Mike Ervin

By Mike, via Karen, 04/05/16, 2:15PM CDT

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Volunteer of the Year Shares His DinoMights Story

At our annual Awards Day, coach Mike Ervin was named DinoMights Volunteer of the Year. So we asked Mike to share his DinoMights story... here it is, in his own words:

"I got started with Dinomights in 2009.  I was living at the Fourplex (where the Dinomights' equipment is stored) as part of the Urban Homeworks’ Urban Neighbors program.  As an Urban Neighbor, we were encouraged to get involved in the community.  I remember waking up several mornings at 5 in the morning in my first few months in the Fourplex because people were moving in and out of my apartment.  I wondered what was going on and later learned that the people were volunteers at Dinomights, a youth hockey team.  I had played hockey when I was in second and third grade and figured I was at least qualified enough to coach kids at that level.  I signed up for Dinomights and started that fall coaching the "mini-mites."

I have since moved out of the Fourplex into other parts of Minneapolis and now into St. Paul.  However, I still have a love for the people of South Minneapolis, and especially for the kids in the Central and Phillips neighborhoods.  I want the kids in those neighborhoods to have the opportunity to play hockey, like I did in the suburbs playing for Bloomington Jefferson.  I believe that the Lord loves and cares about those kids! And I believe he needs people like me, the other volunteers at Dinomights, and members of the broader community with resources (i.e., hockey equipment, money for ice time, and hockey skills) to come around these kids to support them and to show them God's love.  I believe everyone connected with Dinomights plays a part in demonstrating God's love to the people of South Minneapolis in an extremely practical way.

At times, Dinomights is a sacrifice.  It is hard to work a full-time job and to also fit hockey into the schedule.  It is hard to work with 7 to 9 year olds.  But it is more than worth it.  Forming relationships with kids that span several years and seeing how the kids develop is meaningful and fulfilling.  And it is fun to stand on the bench or watch from the ice as the team you've coached takes the ice and hangs with or even plays better than another team of kids that you know has more resources available than you do.  That's when I feel like I'm making a difference.

I hope to coach with the Dinomights for as long as I possibly can.  It's been awesome to see the growth in the organization over my time with the Dinomights and it’s been awesome to be a part of it.

I love Dinomights!"

 

If you love DinoMights and would be willing to share your DinoMights story, please contact Karen Draayer, karen@dinomights.com.

If you would like to be a DinoMights volunteer, contact Scott Harman, scott@dinomights.com.