3 hockey legends will visit Grande Prairie for charity gala

By Liam Verster

Charity Sport

Hockey Legends to attend 3D Charity Gala in December

Oct 4, 2019 | 6:30 PM

Three NHL legends will be in Grande Prairie for the 3D Children’s Charity Gala.

Former Oiler great, Paul Coffey, who won three Stanley Cups with the Oilers, and one with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Lanny MacDonald, who won a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames, will both be in attendance for the event. Hosting the event will be Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean.

The Gala is celebrating 3D Charity’s 20 years of operation, during which they have raised over $1,000,000 to support local kids going through medical treatments.

Darren Foley, founder,and chair of 3D, says over that time, they have supported a lot of kids.

“We’re over 400 kids, and we go to every school to see the kids. It actually just kind of just came to me the other day, I’ve actually done over 300 school visits, where I’ve walked into a school, and handed a family money. So that’s kind of hard to wrap your head around that, over that time that’s a lot of schools, and that’s a lot of money.”

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He adds the money raised goes towards paying bills for the kids and their families.

“It’s not cheap to go have to the Stollery [Children’s Hospital] and stay there for a month, or six months or some are even up to a year. If they’re taking leukemia treatment, that’s a three-year course, that they’re back and forth to Edmonton. I can’t even imagine what those bills are like, and that’s where we step in. Pay for fuel, pay for food, if they need flights, whatever they need.”

He adds they have also purchased equipment, including wheelchairs and ramps, through the donations they’ve received.

3D Charity started through youth hockey and soccer tournaments, where they raised money for just one kid at a time. Though they started small, raising just a thousand dollars or so in the first years, they quickly grew and found partners to help raise the money and support more and more children. Foley says he is incredibly grateful to all the people who have come out and supported the cause over the years.

To mark 20 years helping children and families in need, 3D is hosting the Gala at Revolution Place on Monday, December 2. Tickets will be available on Monday, October 7, and are expected to be for entire tables or seat packages.

Foley says he hopes to raise at least $100,000 in order to break even and would be extremely happy if more were raised that could go back into the cause.