Schoolchildren in Arctic Bay, Nunavut, Canada are fully outfitted for the bitter winter months with new boot, pants and parkas this year and they have Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds to thank. The actor, in partnership with Canada Goose, donated more than 300 brand new parkas, Baffin boots, and other winter-weather gear to the Arctic Circle community following a plea from Inuk singer-songwriter Becky Han seeking supplies for her hometown.
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Back in August, Han was inspired by a request from Iqaluit Deputy Mayor for school supplies for children in that community. According to CBC, Han then sent out her own tweet asking for help for Arctic Bay but it wasn’t school supplies that Inuujaq School needed. They needed weather-appropriate gear for the kids.
“You know, as we know, it’s the North,” Inuujaq School principal Gregg Durrant said. “It’s pretty cold, and some kids don’t have the proper gear. We have kids among us who really didn’t have enough. Sometimes they would come in and we as staff would think, you know, that this kid really needs a new pair of boots or they need a proper parka.”
Han tweeted the request, just expecting a little bit of help but it ended up as something much more when Canadian actor Reynolds got involved.
“So, he reached out and said, ‘I saw the tweets and how can I help?” Han said. “And I was just touched. I was grateful that, you know, people are listening and he wanted to help out … and that he has concern over Inuit in Nunavut.”
Han connected Durrant to Reynolds and, in turn, Reynolds reached out to Canada Goose. After a bit of coordinating, winter gear began making its way to Arctic Bay.
“When Ryan Reynolds reached out to us about what he was hearing about Arctic Bay, we acted quickly with him and his generosity,” vice president of corporate citizens hip at Canada Goose Gavin Thompson said.
Reynolds himself put out a spoke about the donation last month, saying that he was deeply inspired and grateful for Canada Goose’s involvement.
“It came to my attention students at Inuujaq School in Arctic Bay were going without adequate winter clothing. Of course, it highlights a larger issue of basic needs going unmet in Canada’s northern communities,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I reached out to Canada Goose to match me in providing these students with essential winter gear. They not only said yes in under 30 seconds but went so far above and beyond matching me. I’m deeply inspired and grateful.”
The kids in the Arctic Bay community were also grateful.
“When the students were leaving the gym because they put on their parkas trying to make sure that whatever gear they were getting were suitable for them in terms of size, they were like, ‘Thank you, Gregg! Thank you, Gregg!’ I’m like, ‘Yes, it’s thank you, Ryan! Thank you, Ryan!’” Durrant said.
This isn’t the first time Reynolds has done something to help those in need, especially those impacted by COVID-19. Back in March, Reynolds announced that his Aviation Gin company would be donating 30 percent of online proceeds to the United States Bartender’s Guild through May 1st as a way to help bartenders who were out of work due to pandemic-related business closures. His cell phone company Mint Mobile also offered assistance by providing customers at that time with free, unlimited high-speed data add-ons while he and his wife Blake Lively announced that they were personally donating $1 million to non-profit efforts in Canada to help those impacted by COVID-19, splitting their donation between Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.
What do you think about Reynolds teaming up with Canada Goose to provide parkas to Arctic Bay’s Inuujaq School? Let us know in the comments.
Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
