At right, Doug Rifenburg, Victory Sports founder and executive director, gives a “Play Pack” to a child who was standing in line with his family during The Salvation Army’s Food Express distribution Wednesday. The Play Pack was made available because of a partnership between Victory Sports, Perry’s Ice Cream and the Buffalo Sabres Foundation. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Tell the truth, would you rather be given a turkey or frisbee for Thanksgiving?

Well on Wednesday, it was the best of both worlds as underprivileged parents received food from The Salvation Army for the holidays while children received a “Play Pack” from Victory Sports.

The two organizations, along with Perry’s Ice Cream and Buffalo Sabres Foundation, teamed up to provide the play packs to 100 children at the Jamestown Salvation Army location, 83 S. Main St. The play packs included a jump rope, exercise band, frisbee, pedometer, playground ball, water bottle, sunscreen and other items to keep children entertained during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Doug Rifenburg, Victory Sports founder and executive director, said Victory Sports will visit youth programs and food banks to give away several items of sports and play equipment to 1,000 children, with the backing of Perry’s Ice Cream and the Buffalo Sabres Foundation. He said Perry’s Ice Cream and the Buffalo Sabres Foundation directed $10,000 from the proceeds of Let’s Dough Buffalo ice cream to support Victory Sports. He added, with every purchase of Let’s Dough Buffalo, Perry’s donated a “Buffalo nickel” to the Sabres Foundation to support community organizations. The funds were utilized for the campaign to distribute the play packs.

“I’m given a play pack to the first 100 families with kids,” Rifenburg said about the giveaway at The Salvation Army Wednesday. “We work with organizations like The Salvation Army, adoption centers, foster homes and family services to do this.”

Rifenburg also visited Cattaraugus and Allegany counties Wednesday to donate more play packs, with the goal of giving away at least 100 play packs in each Western New York county.

A group of Perry’s Ice Cream employees assisted Victory Sports with assembling the packs at the Victory Sports’ warehouse in Clarence.

“There is a gap in opportunities for young people to be active and participate in sports, especially given the current circumstances,”said Robert Denning, Perry’s Ice Cream president and CEO. “Perry’s selected Victory Sports as the recipient of our Let’s Dough Buffalo donation because we believe in their mission and ability to make a direct connection with families to encourage active play. We are honored to partner with Victory Sports and the Buffalo Sabres Foundation to bring more of Perry’s ‘good stuff’ to our Western New York community.”

Rich Jureller, Buffalo Sabres Foundation president, said the foundation and Perry’s Ice Cream have a long tradition of working together to serve the Western New York Community

“This initiative will provide meaningful opportunities for many kids to participate in sports and play, which is even more important during these challenge times,” Jureller said.

Project Play WNY and the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation first created the play packs during the summer and helped local organizations distribute thousands of packs.

“We aim to provide the equipment that organizations and families need to help their kids play sports, have fun, and develop as young people,” Rifenburg said.

For more information or to donate to Victory Sports, visit www.victorysports.org