Ben’s Cup hockey fundraiser for cancer centre eclipses $1M goal

In its second year, the Ben’s Cup hockey tournament surpassed its $1 million fundraising goal for a cancer treatment facility.

They’ve reached their goal.

The Ben Stelter Foundation has raised more than $1 million toward the construction of an advanced cancer treatment centre in Edmonton from money raised by children playing in Ben’s Cup.

The hockey players reached a fundraising goal of $1 million on Monday, a day before the tournament wrapped up at the Ardrossan Recreation Centre.

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“It’s incredible,” Mike Stelter, the executive director of the foundation, told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday. “Kids raising money for kids. It’s so impactful, and to see how much effort these kids put into their fundraising was inspiring. They’re going to help a lot of kids battling cancer.”

This year, the tournament’s second, 56 teams participated, up from 36 last year.

Stelter said the 40 children in the under-11 and under-13 age categories who raised the most money – they raised $260,000 of the total between them – played in an all-star game.

The second-annual fundraising tournament saw more than 900 players aged 5-12 in three different age categories take to the ice over the five-day event.

Proceeds from Ben’s Cup, including a silent auction, will go towards building a $150-million proton beam therapy centre in Edmonton.

Ben’s Cup and the foundation are named for Mike’s son Ben, an Edmonton Oilers fan who passed away in August 2022 at age 6 from a type of brain cancer called glioblastoma. Ben became an inspiration to the Oilers and the community after meeting star Connor McDavid and getting to know the team.

The Ben Stelter Foundation was formed in December 2022.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell