This Wild Employee Will Live on a Balcony for Veterans

A balcony, a goal, and seven years of showing up. On Monday, October 19, David Rayfield will walk out onto the balcony at Town Toyota Center and settle in. He won't come back inside until he's sold 1,000 tickets to the Wenatchee Wild's Military Appreciation Night game.

It's his seventh consecutive campout. The Wild's Senior Sales & Operations Coordinator has now spent more than 22 days on that balcony over the previous six years, ducking in only for restroom breaks. The weather gets whatever it gets.

The goal started at 500 tickets back in the 2019-20 season, climbed to 750 for a February 2022 campout, and has held at 1,000 for five years running. Last year, Rayfield tied the record for the fastest finish, hitting his number on the campout's third afternoon.

Where Your Money Goes

Tickets bought during the campout start at $20 in the Wild Zone, Blue Zone, and General Admission. Of each ticket sold, $4 gets split between the Wenatchee Valley Veterans Hall and the Thomas A. Biddle Foundation. Over six years, the campout has raised more than $24,000.

Dennis Brouwers of the Biddle Foundation says the impact goes beyond the check. Through fundraising last year and early this year, the foundation gave $10,000 to Camp Corral, which sends children who have lost a veteran parent to summer camp, along with injured, wounded, and disabled veterans. "David has been a great friend to our foundation," Brouwers said.

Rayfield expects the total to approach $30,000 once this year's campout wraps up. "It is amazing to see game nights where the community comes together in support," he said.

David Rayfield & Walt the Wolf via Wenatchee Wild

Free Seats for Veterans and Their Families

Plenty of donors buy tickets and then hand them over to local veterans and their families, which is how the campout fills the arena with the people it honors. Rayfield also invites any veteran who wants to bring their family to a future Wild game to contact him directly. Those seats cost nothing.

The big night is Saturday, November 7, when Wenatchee hosts the Everett Silvertips. This year's campout lands in the middle of a nine-game homestand, with the Kamloops Blazers visiting on Sunday, October 25.

To buy tickets, call Rayfield at the Wild office at 509-888-7825 or visit wenatcheewildhockey.com and click the Military Appreciation link under the Tickets tab. If you're in North Central Washington and looking for a good reason to spend a Saturday night at the rink, this one comes with a story worth telling afterward.