Ben Stelter Fund launched to provide magical experiences and fund children's cancer research
Ben Stelter Fund launched to provide magical experiences and fund children's cancer research
A new fund is hoping to honour Oilers superfan Ben Stelter's legacy and provide kids with cancer better opportunities for care.
Launched Thursday, the new charity comes almost a year ago to the day that he first met his hero Connor McDavid.
McDavid and the man who connected him and Ben, Ashif Mawji, have already pledged $100,000 to the fund, which focuses on providing magical experiences for kids with cancer, providing needed medical equipment at home, and supporting medical research.
Ben died in August from brain cancer. He became a household name after he was featured as a skater before an Edmonton Oilers home game in March and joined Zach Hyman at a post-match press conference.
Since Ben's passing, local entrepreneur Mawji has worked with his parents, Mike and Lea Stelter, to find a way to commemorate his kindness.
"We wanted to find a way to preserve the legacy," Mawji told CTV News Edmonton. "To make it even more powerful. Ben has done so much for all of us, not just in Edmonton but around the world."
Lea says Ben was always focused on giving to others, including restocking a treasure chest at the hospital where kids could get a toy after getting their blood work done.
"He loved giving gifts at the hospital," she recalled. "He was the sweetest boy."
"He would buy toys with his own money at the store and be like, I need to bring this one," Mike added. "He was full of love."
Mike and Lea Stelter speak with CTV News Edmonton on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.
His parents shared that creating a foundation to help the community is the ultimate gift Ben would want to give.
"Life has been really tough since Ben passed," Mike said.
"This is the one big thing that we can put time and energy into where it gets us out of bed in the morning," he added. "To be able to do this in his name and have his name continue to live on."
Both Mike and Lea say they were taken by surprise to see how much of an impact Ben's story made on many people, especially those going through radiation therapy.
They would receive messages and hear from adults who were struggling with going to treatments but were ultimately inspired to after hearing about the five-year-old's determination.
"It honestly brought us so much hope and positivity," Lea said.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
Dominic Barton, the former global managing director of McKinsey & Company, says he had no involvement in federal contracts awarded to the firm in recent years.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a mosque in northwest Pakistan this week had disguised himself in a police uniform and did not raise suspicion among guards, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.
When the opera 'La Flambeau' premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
Top European Union officials arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian officials as rescue crews dug through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine struck by a Russian missile, killing at least three people and wounding about 20 others.
In Washington progress on police brutality appears difficult, if not unlikely. Bipartisan efforts to reach an agreement on policing legislation stalled more than a year ago, and President Joe Biden ended up instead signing an executive order named for George Floyd, whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police set off nationwide protests nearly three years ago.
Calgary police are looking for suspects involved in an altercation that lasted for approximately an hour, spanned several communities and ended with a gun being fired.
Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service officials are encouraging any local victims to come forward following the arrest of actor Nathan Lee Chasing Horse in Las Vegas on sex assault charges.
A new 911 dispatch system in New Brunswick means that now fire departments aren’t getting dispatched to all medical calls leaving residents waiting and first responders in the dark.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
After an extremely mild month of January, the province is bracing for a blast of arctic air that will move in tonight and last until Saturday. Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued extreme cold warnings that covers most of the province with wind chills expected to be between -38 and -42 across the South and -50 across Northern Quebec.
Longueuil police (SPAL) arrested Gilles Croteau, 57, in the Saint-Hubert borough on Jan. 24 after an investigation that led to 31 arrests across Quebec for various sex offences, including child pornography possession and production.
Ottawa ranks 45th out of 62 cities across Canada and the United States in a study on downtown recovery, with activity levels at 51 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
While crews have resumed operations in an attempt to open the Rideau Canal Skateway for its 53rd season, an NCC spokesperson says the canal will not open in time for the first weekend of Winterlude on Friday.
Wiarton Willie made his prediction his spring prediction Thursday morning at 8:07 a.m. The groundhog did not see his shadow, meaning we could get an early spring.
A hearing is underway to determine if Udo Haan is not criminally responsible for the death of his wife Edra Haan, who was found in the aftermath of the 2018 house explosion in Kitchener, Ont.
Wiarton Willie has predicted an early spring! The groundhog in South Bruce Peninsula didn't see his shadow at 8:07 a.m. on Thursday morning, meaning sprin gis on the way.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
The organization regulating medical care and services in Manitoba is apologizing for racism directed towards Indigenous people when accessing health care in the province.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
B.C.'s Ministry of Health is continuing its multi-year trend of paying millions more dollars each year to private surgical centres for the delivery of public health care, CTV News has learned.
Changes to the amount of time the public gets to voice their opinion during Surrey City Council meetings has caused controversy among former councillors.
A homicide investigation is underway on Quadra Island, B.C., after a 39-year old woman was found dead in what investigators believe was a targeted killing.
Alberta's former chief medical officer of health has landed a new role in British Columbia. Dr. Deena Hinshaw was named a deputy provincial health officer for B.C. on Wednesday.
Mike and Lea Stelter speak with CTV News Edmonton on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.
