An Alberta woman has been charged in connection to the theft of money from a fundraising event held in support of a young cancer victim.
Brandon Hall, 20, of Drumheller, was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2015 and has been undergoing treatments ever since. Unable to gain weight, he weighs just 98 pounds.
In April, residents in the town began organizing several fundraising events to help assist the Hall family with the expenses incurred from Brandon’s out-of-province cancer treatments.
Two months later, on June 14, RCMP received a complaint that a substantial amount of money from a silent auction had gone missing and was never given to the Hall family.
“When we had added it up to deposit it, we knew that we were missing some of it,” Crystal Hall, Brandon’s mother, said in a phone conversation with Global News.
The theft of the money, which was helping to pay for the family to travel with Brandon, was hurtful to Crystal.
“I have a lot more added stress,” she said. “It just adds to it, and it’s just unnecessary.
“My only hope is that this doesn’t happen to somebody else.”
Despite the ordeal, Crystal said she still feels overwhelmed by the support they’ve received from the community.
“I can walk down the street and I’m usually being stopped by somebody asking how he’s been, how he’s doing,” she said.
“There’s a lot more good people out there than bad.”
On Monday, Drumheller RCMP said Ashley Fredrickson, 33, had been charged with one count of theft under $5,000. She was released from police custody and is scheduled to appear to in court on Aug. 26.
A Facebook post from Fredrickson suggested the case was “a matter of he said, she said” and that “those that know me, know I didn’t do this.”
Drumheller is located about 130 kilometres northeast of Calgary.
Donations to Hall’s battle with cancer can be made via his GoFundMe account.
With a file from Jill Croteau