Photo Courtesy EGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

3D Children's Society

25th 3D Children’s Society gala to feature four NHL alumni

Nov 8, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The 3D Children’s Society will be hosting its 25th annual gala in March.

An event was held on Friday, Nov. 7 to announce this year’s special guests, four NHL alumni from the Flames and Oilers. The group includes 13-year enforcer Georges Laroque, Hall of Fame inductee, five-time Stanley Cup winner and Vezina winner Grant Fuhr, two-time Stanley Cup Champion Jamie Macoun, and Stanley Cup champion and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Doug Gilmour.

The group will also be joined by Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron McLean.

All proceeds from the evening will go towards sick kids and their families in the Peace Region who have to overcome additional circumstances alongside an illness based on their geography.

Board member Tyler Vant Erve, who took part in the tournament as a kid, adds it’s a cause that is “uniquely local.”

“There’s kids everywhere that suffer from these (illnesses), right? But just because of the area that we’re in (kids here) have these added hardships in terms of getting the support that they need. So Darren (Foley, 3D Executive Director) and the board saw that gap and have worked tirelessly now for 25 years to try to fill that.”

Fellow Board Member Matt Chomyc says there are a lot of different costs associated with a serious illness that aren’t often top of mind, and 3D wants to help however they can.

“Many times we get an email or a call going into a weekend or, you know, something came up. There’s a kid that’s been diagnosed with cancer, leukemia, has to go to Edmonton in the next two days, and the family’s got to pack up and life’s flipped on its head. So for our sponsors and the people that contribute to be able to help out with funds to, you know, pay for a hotel, gas, fuel, a medical device, it’s just a really great thing to be involved with.”

Dan Bishop, another board member and a local teacher, added that this cause hits close to home for him.e.

“These kids, they’re in our classrooms, they’re in our school divisions, they’re in our communities, and if we have a chance to support them because something’s happened where it’s unforeseen circumstances, no one wishes it upon themselves, upon family members, upon community members, if we can support them in any way we can, we’ll do it.”

In the past, when the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was proceeds from the gala that took place in November of 2019, before the lockdown, that kept support in place for local youth and their families, according to Executive Director Darren Foley.

Tickets for this event will soon be for sale and will feature both live and silent auctions alongside other amenities.

More information can be found by visiting the 3D Children Society’s website.