Jack Higginson, 9, has been a regular visitor at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre for the last five years. Once a week, he goes to the hospital to receive treatment for a rare genetic disease, MPS II, also known as Hunter Syndrome.

But now, his experience will be a lot brighter, thanks to a new renovation at the hospital’s pediatric outpatient clinic. Over a single week in November, the Smilezone Foundation revitalized the space to make a visit to the outpatient clinic more pleasant for its patients.

Adam Graves, former NHL hockey player and founding member of Smilezone, says it’s all about enhancing a child’s experience while they receive treatment.

“Our mandate is pretty simple. We go into hospitals and centres where kids are being treated and we try to put a smile on their face,” said Graves.

The space features fresh paint, autographed hockey jerseys, comfortable seating, toys and more.

But this project could not have been completed without the help of the Peterborough Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament. For its 60th anniversary, organizers of the competition contributed $25,000 to Smilezone, and the non-profit then matched that amount to complete the PRHC clinic’s renovation.

“I’m just glad that the Liftlock Hockey Tournament is able to give back to the kids in the community and I think it’s a wonderful job that they’ve done,” said Ron Sparks, director of the Peterborough Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament.

“When you talk about going to a tournament and the memories that we had as kids, and even with my kids going to tournaments, and then you have that tournament pay it forward to a hospital where kids are going to benefit from the game of hockey, it’s just a win-win.”

Smilezone is no stranger to Peterborough: the organization also revamped the Five Counties Children’s Centre in 2016.

The Smilezone area at PRHC is the non-profit’s 200th renovation in Ontario.

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