Students in Edmonton have fundraised thousands of dollars in memory of Edmonton Oilers superfan Ben Stelter.
The fundraiser was started by Aariz Mawji, a Grade 8 student at Nellie Carlson School in southwest Edmonton’s Mactaggart neighbourhood.
In just four weeks, the K-9 school raised more than $8,000 toward the Ben Stelter Fund in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital. The endeavour was spearheaded by student Aariz Mawji, whose dad helped kick off the fund.
The six-year-old Oilers fan captured hearts across North America as he battled glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He died on Aug. 9, 2022, after fighting the disease for two years.
In December, the special fund was announced to honour his life and legacy, and to support kids like Ben and their families.
The Ben Stelter Fund was kickstarted with $100,000 — donations from Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Edmonton entrepreneur (and Stelter family friend) Ashif Mawji.
The fund has four goals: magical experiences, medical equipment for families at home, outcome-based research and venture philanthropy.
The younger Mawji said he wanted to honour his young friend, Ben, with his own initiative at school. He kept track of the growing tally on a school whiteboard.
“It made me feel good. I wrote it many times, but I was really happy to see that was the number we came up with, considering our goal was $1,000.”
For dad Mike Stelter, seeing the legacy his son has left with other kids means a lot.
“To see kids raising money for kids is so powerful. It’s going to help them grow into community contributing adults,” he said.
“It’s going to make them such good people.”
School principal Henry Madsen said the six-year-old’s impact went beyond the hockey rink and into classrooms across Edmonton.
On Friday, Mawji and his principal presented Mike Stelter with a cheque for $8,049.50.
Stelter said the efforts of Nellie Carlson students honour his son’s memory.
“I think Ben would love it.”
— With files from Emily Mertz, Global News
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