Wild's Matt Dumba chips in to help Forest Lake girls' hockey player compete overseas

FOREST LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Forest Lake hockey player has the opportunity of a lifetime.

Kalei Forga, 12, is invited to play at an international hockey tournament and represent Minnesota, but the trip doesn’t come cheap.

Now, she’s getting helm from all kinds of people, including a Minnesota Wild player, to make sure she can play the game she loves.

It all started with a GoFundMe page which was shared on Twitter by the group “Black Girl Hockey Club.”

That caught the attention of Minnesota Wild player Matt Dumba and the rest is history.

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind for the Forga family as the GoFundMe that was set up in December has now gone viral.

A Forest Lake father wanted to make sure his daughter Kalei could do something big on the world stage.

“I was speechless,” said Kalei Forga. “I didn’t have the words to explain how happy I was.”

Forga is a hockey player and a good one at that. She was asked to try out for the World Selects in Europe - and she made it.

She’ll be part of a Minnesota hockey team playing in Switzerland and France in April. The only problem is the price tag of the trip.

“We went from absolutely thrilled she made this team to seeing what the cost of the trip was going to be,” said Jaime Forga, Kalei’s dad.

After “Black Girl Hockey Club” tweeted out Kalei’s story, Minnesota Wild Defenseman Matt Dumba saw it. He then donated $500 to her cause and sent a message to Kalei.

“That money struggle can put a real big weight on families, and that’s why I wanted to help out and I kinda had a situation like that myself and it took a lot of people to get me to where I was and to get me where I was going at that time,” Dumba said. “So, it was kind of the least I could do.”

His generosity has been humbling for Kalei.

“It’s crazy. I didn’t really know what to say about that and then he sent the note and that made me really happy,” she said.

“We’re part of that hockey family,” Jaime said. “We watch out for each other and help each other and there’s a lot of support there.”

Before Kalei and her family head oversees, Dumba has some advice for her.

“I would say just work your hardest,” he said. “Throw it all out there and take it all in. This will be a cool trip. Make new friends with her family so enjoy it and submerge yourself in the culture and everything over there. It will be cool.”

They are words Kalei won’t ever forget.

“I don’t even have anything to say,” she said. “I’m speechless with that.”