The U14 Zone 5 Orcas ringette team scored a sweet goal with a whale of a fundraising idea.

The team, made up of players from Vernon to Salmon Arm, along with one from Houston, in B.C.'s Central Interior, helped Okanagan fruit growers by selling the growers' Honey Crisp apples as a fundraiser.

"Rather than selling donuts from an American corporation, I thought it would be good to support local," said Erica Manger, a mom of one of the players, who came up with the idea.

The Orcas approached Coldstream Fruit Stand with the concept in hopes it would offset the closure of a packing plant, and to raise money for the team's tournament fees.

The team bought the apples at 70 cents per pound, much more than the $0.25/lb fruit growers sometimes receive when selling in bulk.

The players went to the orchard and bagged the apples into 10-pound bags. They sold each of these for $20, or $2/lb, a deal compared to what a consumer would pay of up to $3.99/lb at the grocery store.

鈥淚t was a win-win," said Orcas team manager Chris Krusel. 鈥淭his fundraiser surpassed our budget target for the year and now we can look at attending another tournament.鈥�

The team was able to sell more than 3,000 pounds of apples in their first year of trying this fundraiser, which inspired other teams to look into local farmers for fundraising in future seasons.

The Orcas took part in tournaments in Vernon, 91大黄鸭, and Langley, as well as the provincial championships in Coquitlam.