Caleb’s Courage in Cape Breton marks 10th anniversary with $10,000 donation

Caleb’s Courage prepares for the 10th annual Superhero Walk Run Fly on the weekend.

When hundreds of people – many of them dressed in superhero costumes – gather at Petersfield Park in Westmount, N.S. on Sunday they will be marking a big anniversary.

“This year, 2025, marks 10 years of Caleb’s Courage in our community,” said Nicole Forgeron-MacArthur, Caleb MacArthur’s mother and co-founder - along with her husband Mike MacArthur - of the Caleb’s Courage movement.

The charitable cause started by the MacArthur’s back in 2015 began with relatively humble intentions – to raise enough money to renovate a room in the paediatrics unit at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

Over the past decade though, it has become something more.

“It’s snowballed into this enormous charity that is helping so many local families,” MacArthur said.

This year, one of the biggest donations is coming from one of those families helped by the Caleb’s Courage movement.

Molly’s Mission was created in 2022 by 12-year-old Molly Wadden of South Bar, N.S., during her final months battling Ewing Sarcoma, with its goal to help other children who are dealing with critical illness.

“Molly’s Mission was happy to donate $10,000 to the cause, to Caleb’s Courage Walk, Run, Fly,” said Jeff Wadden, Molly’s father. “It’s what she told us to do, so I would like to think she would be happy and we’re just honouring her wishes.”

Forgeron-MacArthur added that one thing she is particularly looking forward to on Sunday is being able to share with the community just how much money Caleb’s Courage has raised over the past ten years.

Preparing for this weekend’s event is just another part of the unique bond the MacArthur’s and Wadden have come to share.

“This is something that Caleb would love, that Molly would love, and we just want to celebrate their superhero spirit,” Caleb’s mother said.

A community celebration a decade in the making kicks off on Sunday with registration at 9 a.m. and the Walk, Run, Fly beginning at 10 a.m.

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