Spencer Moore has taken numerous trips around Saskatchewan on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross to deliver its anti-bullying message.
His most-recent excursion may have been the most moving one yet.
On Dec. 4, Moore — a fullback/special-teamer with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders — was in La Loche as part of the Imagine No Bullying campaign. That town was the site of a shooting spree on Jan. 22, 2016, that left four people dead.
“To have the opportunity to go to a place that’s healing, that definitely pulls on the heartstrings,” Moore said Monday. “I’m happy that I was able to do that. It’s an experience I won’t forget.
“To be able to potentially help these kids who need some help right now, it’s super-rewarding. That’s why I got involved with the Red Cross to begin with.”
Moore, a 27-year-old product of Hamilton, has helped spread the Red Cross’ anti-bullying message for the past couple of years. Last off-season, he estimated he drove 4,700 kilometres in one week to visit schools across the province.
Last week, with the assistance of Cameco, Moore travelled to the communities of La Loche, Buffalo Narrows, Ile-a-la-Crosse and Beauval to continue his off-season work.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Moore said of his trip to northern Saskatchewan. “I had spoken to some people before going up there and they made it seem like it was a million miles away. Granted, it’s far and it’s northern and they’re small communities, but when I finished the trip, I felt encouraged and very impressed with what I had seen.
“When we got there, it was quite impressive, especially the schools and the kids. They were pretty receptive to (the presentations). It was a really cool experience.”
La Loche was on Moore’s schedule last Monday — and the five-year CFL veteran admitted he was “quite nervous” before the presentation.
“I was preparing myself before I went because I knew that we were going to be at the high school where the shootings happened,” Moore said. “I know it’s a community that’s still in the process of getting better, so I didn’t want to change the (anti-bullying) message. I just wanted to make sure I was mindful of how I was saying things and how I was going to get the message across.
“As I went along with the presentation, I felt very comfortable and didn’t have to make any changes. It was just another presentation, which was good. They’re kids, right? Despite the fact that they’ve been through some tough things, they’re resilient. By the end of it, it was just another presentation to some school kids.”
In January of 2016, a teenager shot and killed two brothers at a home in La Loche. The shooter later went to La Loche Community School, where he walked through the halls with a shotgun. A teacher and a teacher’s aide were killed at the school.
The accused pleaded guilty in October of 2016 to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. His sentence is expected to be announced in February.
Moore saw first-hand the way the community has been dealing with the incident.
“It’s almost two years ago now, but in the sense of that kind of thing happening, two years isn’t really that long,” he said. “The community is definitely healing.
“I got to meet some of the leaders of the community and the administration staff at the high school and it seems like they’re heading in the right direction. They’ve got a lot of positive things going on and it just seems that, despite the fact that it was a horrible tragedy, the kids and the people seem to be on the upswing.”
Moore also met with elementary school students (“They were one of the best groups of Grade 3 to 6 kids that I’ve had in my time with the Red Cross,” he said) and with members of the high school football team (which is looking to expand its participation in the Northern Saskatchewan league).
Moore shared the anti-bullying message during his time in La Loche, but he also offered support to everyone he encountered in the community.
“The one thing that isn’t different about La Loche in comparison to other communities we’ve visited is that every community has its struggles, whether it’s up there or down here (in southern Saskatchewan),” Moore said. “Now that it has been almost two years (since the shooting), I had a vibe that things are getting better.
“You can’t really put a timeline on something like that for moving on and for the kids to move on; it’s going to happen when it happens. I think they have the right leadership in place and they have some good student leaders who are helping them do that. And if I helped even one kid, then I’ve done my job.”
