Wounded Warriors named charity for Battle of the Blades

TORONTO , Oct. 1 /CNW/ - Wounded Warriors.ca is honoured to be named the beneficiary charity for the ice dancing team of Kristina Lenko and Bob Probert on the upcoming television show "Battle of the Blades".

"While all the charitable organizations that have been selected by the competing pairs are very worthy charities, I am now quite biased for the success of Lenko and Probert," says Wayne Johnson , the founder and president of Wounded Warriors.ca. "Our eyes are definitely on the ultimate $100,000 prize, as a contribution like that will go a long way to helping our wounded Canadian veterans."

Wounded Warriors.ca is an independent not-for-profit charity that supports Canadian service members wounded overseas. It is primarily a fundraising mechanism that supports existing programs that tends to wounded soldiers. The success of this fund is a credit to the benevolence of Canadian corporations and citizens alike. Wounded Warriors.ca recognizes the priority to treat visible and non-visible injuries like that of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The series premieres on Sunday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m. EST on CBC Television. It is a fierce competition of grace and drama as some of Canada's elite Olympic and World female figure skaters team up with eight of the NHL's greatest hockey players in this pairs figure skating competition.

"Being able to skate for the troops is more than an honour for me, it's a privilege," says Bob Probert . This former NHL player has long distinguished himself as an NHL tough guy but has a soft spot when it comes to supporting the troops, having been to Afghanistan twice to visit them. "Over the years I've roughed it up many times with Tie Domi, but please don't beat up on this cause. A vote for Kristina and me is a vote for the troops".

"Bob and I are working hard and the competition is fierce," says Kristina Lenko who is accustomed to working with partners new to ice dancing. "I'm excited about the possibility of raising $100,000 for Wounded Warriors.ca and supporting the great work they do for our Canadian heroes."

Kristina Lenko began skating when she was nine years old in her hometown of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan before moving to Edmonton at age 16 to train as a competitive ice dancer and competed internationally before turning professional in 2004.

Viewers vote for their favourite pairs and the bottom ranked two pairs return the following night (Monday) for a skate-off, with the four judge panel deciding who gets to continue. Each week the eliminated pair will donate $25,000 to the charity of their choice. The winning pair will be chosen by viewer votes and will donate $100,000 to their designated charity.

Wounded Warriors.ca is a registered charity 82808-2727-RR0001

For further information: More information on Wounded Warriors may be found on the Internet at www.woundedwarriors.ca. For media inquiries please contact Wayne Johnston at [phone]