Boulets contribute gift to Ric Suggitt award

By Lethbridge Herald on May 26, 2023.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Toby and Bernadine Boulet gifted $20,000 the Ric Suggit Women’s Rugby Memorial Award to ensure it has a permanent endowment.

Lethbridge Herald

The Ric Suggitt Women’s Rugby Memorial Award received a boost thanks to a generous gift from Toby and Bernadine Boulet.

The Boulets gave a gift of $20,000 to the award, and with the contribution, it established not only a permanent endowment, but the funds will ensure that future generations of student-athletes will receive this meaningful support in perpetuity.

“Ric was very special to our son Logan, and he offered to train Logan and his three buddies,” says Toby of his hockey-playing son. “He did a great job with them just out of the kindness of his heart and Logan really took to that — Ric was a larger-than-life personality.”

Suggitt coached with the Horns rugby team for two years before passing away in June 2017.

However, while his time was short at U of L, his impact on campus and in the community  didn’t go unnoticed.

“His sphere of influence was wide and extended far beyond the rugby world — something that would become evident following his untimely death and the chain of tragic events that ensued,” as read in the release.

Suggitt was an organ donor after passing away, however a tragedy turned into a miracle for those  who benefitted from Suggit’s ultimate gift.

Suggitt’s last act of selflessness resonated with the Boulet’s son Logan, who told his family he wanted to sign up and be an organ donor.

It was upon Logan’s passing after the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018, that his organs were donated and saved six lives and that is where the Logan Boulet effect was born.

As a result, hundreds of thousands signed up to be organ donors.

The relationship between Suggitt and Logan made it easy for the Boulets to decide to get on board to support the award.

“You can never talk enough about a child who has passed away, and then it gives us a chance to talk about Ric and Ric’s influence on Logan and how he inspired him to become an organ donor,” says Toby.

 Bernie echoes that sentiment.

 “I was never that person who would go out and ask for donations and then I thought back to when I was a student here and how fortunate I was to get scholarships and not have to worry about having to work while I was playing soccer and taking a full course load,” she says. “Those scholarships made a huge difference for me and when I took on this role, I thought about how hard it has been for students the last few years. It hasn’t been an easy road for them, and I see this campaign as an opportunity to build some positive connections again for our students to the University and our community.”

Any donations to the Ric Suggitt Women’s Rugby Memorial Award, or any other new endowed student scholarship, will be matched by the ULethbridge Board of Governors as part of their $10-million pledge to student awards.

It was between having an award that has Suggitt’s name on it foerever  to Ric, Logan and the Boulets has heartened U of L Pronghorns Athletics executive director Neil Langevin.

“This award isn’t just about the money, which of course is important and can be life changing for a student-athlete, it also speaks to everything we value in Pronghorn Athletics,” says Langevin. “The story behind this award and why it came to be is about making the world around you better, about impacting people’s lives and creating a legacy of giving and community. Each scholarship recipient will know that story and the responsibility that comes with this award and that’s a powerful lesson to learn. We couldn’t be more appreciative of the Boulet family and all the donors to this award who have made this happen.”