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Citizens of Cranbrook demonstrated their team spirit Saturday, donating more than $25,000 to send a kids’ hockey team to a tournament in Japan after the money designated for the trip disappeared.

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A dozen days before they were set to depart, the Cranbrook Friendship hockey team discovered a “trusted volunteer” had allegedly misappropriated $30,000 set aside for the trip, according to a team press release.

After notifying police, the team’s management had to break the news to the players. On Friday, they posted a message to Facebook explaining the situation to fans and supporters. Within minutes, support began to flow in.

A local businessman, whose kids are not part of the team, stepped up to organize the effort, as several Cranbrook businesses, including construction companies, restaurants and hair salons, began to chip in. The team also received donations from communities outside Cranbrook, other hockey teams and individuals.

By Saturday afternoon, they had received more than $25,000. The trip was back on.

“Our boys will get the trip that we originally planned for them to have,” the team’s travel chair, Crystal Kenyon, told Postmedia News. “We have been able to turn a negative into a positive with the help of so many. Words cannot express our gratitude.”