The eighth annual Checking for Charity fundraising event, put on by the South Portland Professional Firefighters Union, will drop the puck on Sunday, March 30, at Troubh Ice Arena.

Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and the event will feature a South Portland High School alumni challenge at 11 a.m.; South Portland Middle School skills exhibition at noon; Former Pro Showdown at 12:45 p.m.; and wraps up with the Firefighter Classic at 2 p.m.

But that’s not all: the South Portland High School Chamber Singers and Boston Bruins anthem singer, Todd Angilly, will both perform the national anthem ahead of games at the event. Chuck-a-puck, the 50/50 raffle and online silent auction are also making returns.

The ice hockey fundraiser benefits multiple local charities in addition to one primary beneficiary each year. The event has raised $150,000 since its inception in 2017 and has a goal of raising $30,000 this year.

“We obviously take donations, but it’s a free event; I always like to drive that one home,” said Lt. Mike Norton, a South Portland firefighter and chair of the Checking for Charity Committee. “We want people to be able to come and be there even if they’re not able to give.”

However, individual donations, the silent auction and 50/50 raffle are great ways to support the cause, Norton said.

The main beneficiary this year is the Center for Grieving Children, which has locations in Sanford and Portland.

“We are a nonprofit that provides safe spaces, peer support, outreach and education for grieving children and families in the community,” said Kelly McCormack, director of marketing at the Center for Grieving Children.

Checking for Charity has had their eye on the nonprofit for a while, Norton said, and the committee decided to name them as the primary beneficiary this year.

“ Center for Grieving Children has been in the conversation for at least the last year or so. Last year we did go with Make-A-Wish, but they were a close runner-up,” Norton said. “They came up again this year, we looked into them a little more and they’re just an outstanding group.”

“They contacted us and said that they knew people who had benefited from our programs and that we had been on their list for a while,” McCormack said. “It was a really unexpected surprise and we’re really grateful for it.”

The community has always seemed to rally around the annual event, but “each year has its own challenges,” Norton said. Last year, that came in the form of an ice storm that hit the night before the event.

“This year, fundraising has been a bit more challenging,” Norton said. “I think people are feeling the pinch a bit more. We haven’t heard back from some businesses (who sponsored in previous years).”

However, many have stepped up to the plate to fill the void. For example, some previous sponsors have upgraded to a higher sponsorship tier this year and there are other businesses that are jumping in as sponsors for the first time.

“We still have a tremendous amount of support in the community and we still have a fair amount of our sponsors, our businesses, that have been there from the beginning,” Norton said.

The event is also an opportunity to get new firefighters involved with the community they serve.

“We have a lot of newer firefighters in the department and we’re trying to get them involved so that they can see the culture and what we like to be involved in; that it feels good to help even when you’re outside of work,” Norton said. “We’re trying to instill that community-first type of methodology, which is key.”

For more information on Checking for Charity, visit cfcmaine.org. For access to the online silent auction, which begins Thursday, visit checkingforcharity.betterworld.org/auctions/2025CFC. For more information on the Center for Grieving Children, visit cgcmaine.org.