A distress single was sent, and the call answered.

The Yukon Amateur Speed Skating Association (YASSA) is getting support from fellow

sport governing bodies to salvage its season after a June 24 fire at the Canada Games Centre claimed the group's 140 mats.

Total cost to replace the mats: $100,000.

Total money raised in the past five weeks: $66,000.

Empathy from other sports organizations and random acts of kindness made the current sum possible, said Laini Klassen, president of the YASSA.

"We had a lady from Vancouver call us because she read a letter to the editor, and she phoned us out of the blue, didn't want her name mentioned or anything – and she bought five mats,” Klassen said of the $3,750 donation.

"Little things like that, it's been overwhelming. It's amazing actually.”

All 140 mats – at a cost of $750 each – were damaged in the blaze, either from being scorched directly or from smoke and chemical damage, prompting those responsible for the clean up to surround the mats in the Games Centre parking lot with warning signs reading, "Breathing protection must be worn.”

On July 19, Walter Brennan, president of the Yukon Amateur Hockey Association, challenged other sport governing bodies to donate mats to help the speed skaters return to the rink.

The YASSA had received $30,000 in donations from businesses, associations, non-profit organizations and private donors.

Since then, the Yukon – and beyond – has taken that challenge, more than doubling the money raised.

The Yukon Government pitched in $25,000.

"But we didn't apply for it or anything,” Klassen said. "They just phoned us and said,

‘We want to help. We want your kids on the ice.' And because of that, we were able to get our down payment to order the mats, because they gave us that money so quickly.”

The down payment was $35,000, the cost of the first phase of getting the speed skaters back onto the ice, Klassen explained, adding that the club has ordered the first wave of mats.

But speed skaters won't have enough mats to skate at full capacity until December, she added.

"But they can at least be on the ice, and they'll work their training around it.” Speed skaters will be able to use the ice, though without going top speed, on Oct. 1, a month later than usual.

This is an especially unsettling prospect with the 2012 Arctic Winter Games, set for Whitehorse in March, on the horizon.

"They definitely can't skate at full speed. So basically they'd only be on the ice practicing strides and slow cross overs. It'll be fine probably for the novice crew, but our Arctic Winter Games kids, it's definitely going to affect their ability to skate at full capacity. And they need to be skating.”

Skaters will head to Calgary for camps on the Olympic Oval this month.

But there is little time for speed skaters to mope, Klassen pointed out.

"This is a pretty decent group of kids and people. I'm a pretty firm believer that anger is a wasted emotion, and why dwell on it? Lets just do what we can, we'll work with what we can, and we'll manage.”

Among those helping the YASSA manage are the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club (WCCSC) and the Whitehorse Oldtimers Hockey League, who each donated a mat.

The Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club organized bingo, which will take place at the Elks Lodge at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The Elks themselves donated $1,500 to cover the cost of a mat and the rental price of the hall ($450).

Nearly all those donating agree on one thing: helping out is a no-brainer.

So spoke Claude Chabot, executive director of the WCCSC.

"The sports community, we all need to pull together, and when one sport is in trouble, we try and help out,” Chabot said, adding that the ski club took donations after a fire claimed the Ross River Recreation Centre in March.

"It's all sports helping each other out. …We're one community and I think we all feel their pain.”

The WCCSC heard the speed skating club's appeal on the radio one morning. A couple board members started emailing within the club to gauge interest in donations.

"These guys need some help, we can delve into our surplus, and lets help them buy a mat,” Chabot said.

"A quick round of emails went around to the board and it was unanimous: ‘yes,

absolutely, lets help these guys out.' It wasn't necessarily any one person's initiative, but

I think collectively, everybody thought about it at the same time.

"I think that's pretty typical of sports communities up here. We're all in the same boat.”

Bernie Adilman, president of the Oldtimers Hockey League, agreed.

Brennan's challenged spurred the league into action, Adilman added.

"I didn't realize exactly how much they lost or how much those mats are worth. I don't think people realize how much specialized equipment for each sport is actually worth until you run into something like this. They would have had to do a tremendous amount of fund-raising obviously to be able to afford these mats in the first place.

"The Canada Games Centre is a busy place, and speed skating is another avenue for kids in this town to get some exercise and to lead healthy lifestyles. It's important to keep kids busy, and we just want to help out so that can continue.”

The YASSA is also seeking approval of two grants.

They will hear back from The Community Development Fund next week and will apply for a grant from Lotteries Yukon in the fall.

The total of each grant would be $20,000.