Our Supporters

  The 2025 Brass Inc. Charity Golf Classic was held on September 18, in memory of Matthew Riewald. This donation directly supports children treated for cancer at McMaster Children’s Hospital and their families by providing family events, activities, paid hospital parking, and other supports. Recently, Matthew’s parents, Frank and Lijsje, brother Adam Riewald, and Cody Newell presented a $55,000 donation to Chris McCullough from our Help A Child Smile Board of Directors. We are grateful to Brass Inc. and the Riewald family for their commitment to Help A Child Smile and their incredible work on this year’s tournament, which continues to grow. Thank you to all golfers, volunteers, and sponsors who made this year’s event the biggest one yet! Your commitment directly impacts children and families affected by childhood cancer, providing us with the necessary funds to host several family events each year and offer additional family supports to ease the burden during difficult times.

On Saturday, July 17, the Erie Shores Chapter 129 hosted its annual HACS Motorcycle Charity Ride, featuring a scenic tour of the Niagara Region, culminating in a BBQ at the Welland Legion. This year’s event successfully raised $5000 in support of Help A Child Smile! We extend our gratitude to Erie Shores Chapter 129 for their ongoing commitment and to all participants who contributed to this year’s success.

ABATE 8 held their Annual Poker Run on Saturday, August 30 and raised $8,205 for Help A Child Smile! Since 2017, ABATE 8 has raised $62,710 for Help A Child Smile! 

The Logan family recently accepted this year’s donation at the ABATE 8 club meeting and thanked their membership for their continued support of Help A Child Smile. Their generous donation made each year makes a direct impact on the families that we support through our programs and services.

Thank you, Miss K. for making bracelets and donating proceeds to Help A Child Smile!
 
Michelle presented a donation of $500 to Bertha from Help A Child Smile on behalf of Miss K. who makes the bracelets that Michelle sells.
 
Beautiful bracelets from beautiful supporters. Thank you!

Thank you to the Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario (UCDA) for joining us at our annual family picnic held on Saturday, September 20. UCDA has been a long-time supporter of Help A Child Smile and fundraised over the month of September in support Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and provided us with another donation! Thank you for all that you do to support Help A Child Smile, year after year!
It makes a difference in the lives of families that need us most.

Thank you CanJam For Kids With Cancer for your donation of $30,000 to Help A Child Smile! It was a very succesful year for CanJam and these funds will directly support children treated for cancer at McMaster Children’s Hospital and their families.
CanJam for Kids with Cancer was held on Saturday, August 9 at the Knights Hall in Brantford.
 
The event kicked off with an impressive all-makes and models car show, which brought car enthusiasts together to showcare their prized vehicles.
 
Starting at 1:00pm, local bands hit the stage to perform hours of music. The crowd was up dancing all afternoon while enjoying great food from the Knight’s kitchen.
Jim and Rhiannon Allen presented the 2025 Sandra Allen Memorial Education Awards to 3 youth from our Help A Child Smile families: Olivia, Kora and Ryan. Each recipient won $2500 to put toward their post secondary education – funded by the CanJam!
 
Congratulations to Wally Beal on winning the WestJet Gift of Flight raffle and $500.
 
Help A Child Smile is grateful to the organizing committee, bands, volunteers and community for their continued support of this event!

The Gunners Club believe in the power of community and the importance of giving back. Supporting local charities and non-profits is a core part of their mission, and they take great pride in lending a helping hand to organizations that make a real difference.

Earlier this month, we had the honour of receving a $5,000 from the Gunners Club for Help A Child Smile.

Thank you to the Gunners Club for their continued support of Help A Child Smile. A donation of this size goes a long way in supporting children treated for cancer at McMaster Children’s Hospital. 

K-W Sertoma Speed Skating Club Skates for a Cause: Honouring Kian Van Stee

The K-W Sertoma Speed Skating Club recently laced up their skates for more than just speed—they skated for hope, for strength, and for a cause close to their hearts. This year, the club selected Help A Child Smile as their charity of choice for their annual Skate-a-thon, in honour of Kian Van Stee, one of our brave HACs kids.

Kian’s family has been part of the club, and in a beautiful act of support and generosity, skaters and supporters came together to raise an incredible $5,500 for Help A Child Smile. The event was not just about the laps completed but about the love and commitment shown by the community.

A huge thank you to the Van Stee family for their dedication and to our warrior, Kian, for pushing through countless laps—all in the spirit of giving back to other children and families facing similar challenges.

This is what community is all about: strength, perseverance, and coming together to make a difference.

To the K-W Sertoma Speed Skating Club—thank you for your generosity and for helping us continue our mission to bring smiles to children battling cancer.

Pipe Down put on a fantastic show in support of Help A Child Smile. Not only did they engage the crowd with a high energy, interactive performance, but they also made a very generous donation as well. Thank you to Denis Larocque for organizing this annual event and being a long-time supporter of Help A Child Smile!
 
 

The 8th Annual ABATE Chapter 8 Poker Run raised an incredible $8,725 for Help A Child Smile! This year the event was held on Saturday, September 7. Kickstands went up at noon and riders left the Knights Hall on Catharine Avenue in Brantford and then ended the day with a dinner.

We appreciate the support of ABATE Chapter 8 each and every year! Your contributions go a long way in supporting children and families affected by childhood cancer.

Thank you to the Riewald family and Brass Inc. for holding a fundraising golf tournament in memory of Matthew Riewald. The made a donation of $32,500! 

The tournament has over 125 attendees and was hosted at 4 Seasons Country Club. Thank you to the 30 sponsors and supporters!

This donation will go a long way in supporting our family supports and events. 

Thank you to the Ice Cream Truck for supporting us! They donated a portion of their proceeds from ice cream sales this season to us and presented a cheque for $1206.50 to our board chair, Joyce Hutson. For more information on The Ice Cream Truck’s Giving Back campaign visit:  https://www.theicecreamtruck.ca/giving-back

Thanks to Rita Sopaz for her donation of $4,350 on behalf of Spinning for the Children!

Front row: Noah Vipond-Tait, Makayla Cajander, Kathy Emmett, Lorna Barley, Beth Walsh.
Back row: Cliff Bard, Colin McConnell, Ezio D’Lgnazio, Lisa Reaume, Joyce Hutson, Donal O’Shea.
Absent: Rick Locke, Richard Hamilton, Barb Plomley, Sidney House, Cathy Mosfort, Shari Lyn Biro, Tim Biro.

Another fantastic CanJam for Kids with Cancer is in the books! It was a beautiful day as the Knight’s Hall field filled with new, classic, and antique cars and trucks for the show. Live music kicked off at 1 pm, with a heartfelt thank you to all the local bands who donated their time to support our kids.

Vendors offered a diverse selection of products, and the auction buzzed with activity, thanks to the generous donations from many local businesses.

CanJam had the honour of presenting the Sandra Allen Memorial Education Awards to three outstanding students—Lilly Coulter, Melanie Austin, and Ashlyn Smith.

The awards were presented by Lindsay Allen and Rhiannon Allen-Parker in memory of Sandra, past Chair of Help A Child Smile. A huge thank you to our incredible volunteers—you did an amazing job, and we appreciate every one of you! And to our sponsors, the public, the Knights, the bartenders, the bands, our advertisers, and everyone who contributed to CanJam—thank you for helping us raise over $25,000 for HACS!

The Southern Cruisers Erie Shores Chapter 129 held their annual Poker Run for Help A Child Smile and raised $4,500! Thank you for your continued support!

The Cowboy Classic recently brought supporters together to raise over $22,000 at this year’s golf tournament. This tournament was initiated over 30 years ago by Claude Poulin as an annual fundraiser for HACS he called the Black Creek Charity Golf Classic.

From the inception of HACS in 1987, Claude was a founding benefactor and an original board member and was instrumental in making the organization what it is today. Claude was a compassionate, humble man who never asked to be recognized for his contributions. He generously gave his time, financial support and business resources simply because he could. He never expected to receive anything in return except maybe to see the smiles on the faces of the children he helped.

To honour him, the tournament was renamed ‘The Cowboy Classic’ after his sudden passing late in 2013. Since then, the event has raised over $140,000 for HACS. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of the sponsors, players and volunteers for making it such a great day. A special acknowledgment to the Staff at Niagara National Golf & Country Club in Stevensville for their outstanding support and service throughout the day.

Thank you to Enbridge gas employees for selecting Help A Child Smile as their charity of choice! Recently, their volunteers assembled our welcome packages and knapsacks and provided funding to purchase the items and gas cards!

Thank You, Streets on Fire Chippawa Car Show & Street Dance! 

We are incredibly grateful to the organizers and attendees of the Street on Fire Chippawa Car Show & Street Dance for their generous support and for choosing Help A Child Smile as their beneficiary this year. 

Your amazing event raised $5,000, which will go a long way in bringing smiles to the faces of children fighting cancer. Your support helps us continue our mission of providing joyful experiences and much-needed assistance to these brave kids and their families. 

A huge thank you to everyone who participated, donated, and made this event a roaring success. Your kindness and generosity truly make a difference in the lives of so many. Together, we are spreading hope and happiness, one smile at a time.

 

Thank you to the Healthcare and Municipal Employees Credit Union in Brantford for their donation of $1,190.

Everlee accepted this donation from Melissa Kaczur from the HMECU. Melissa’s daughter is a HACS alumni.

On November 17th  Everlee Watson visited the UCDA (Used Car Dealers Association) to deliver a thank you plaque on behalf of Help A Child Smile. Everlee Watson is a childhood cancer survivor and boy does she smile.

She has a good deal going on in her life that has nothing to do with cancer, because she is now cancer-free. Diagnosed at 4, two and half years of treatments later, she finally has a clean bill of health.

Now 11 years old, Everlee does not have to think about hospitals and treatments now. Instead she thinks about her favorite sports, her art and her beautiful horse, Dolly. She loves to ride that horse, even though it’s getting a little fat!

Giving back is the legacy of Everlee’s journey to health. Her whole family want to thank the McMaster Children’s Hospital and the UCDA, but it does not stop there.  Everlee’s grandmother, Ramona Durkin, is now the Treasurer of the charity that helped them all those years ago, Help a Child Smile, and her mother is a VP of the same organization.

Every week brings new families in need of help as their personal journeys fighting childhood cancer begins – and we all want them to know – they are not alone.

Pictured, from left, Steve Peck, President of the UCDA, Everlee Watson, Ramona Durkin and James Hamilton, Interim Manager and Legal Services Director, UCDA.

 

 

The Brantford Knights recently held an all-you-can-eat breakfast fundraiser on our behalf.  Santa and Mrs. Claus took time out of their busy schedules to drop in and have their pictures taken with the kids (big ones and little ones) after breakfast.  The proceeds from the breakfast were a whopping $2800 and another $261 in donations was added to that for pictures with Santa and the Mrs.

ABATE 8 held their 7th annual poker run fundraiser in September.  The participation was awesome and they raised even more this year than any previous ride.   Beth Walsh and Joyce Hutson were thrilled to accept a cheque for $8600 from the members!

The Erie Shores Chapter 129 held their Annual Poker Run in support of Help A Child Smile on Saturday, July 15. Riders enjoyed a wonderful day and the ride raised around $7,000 for Help A Child Smile. Thank you to the Erie Shores Chapter 129 for their continued support of Help A Child Smile.

The Brantford Area Jeep & Off Road Club showed their support to Help A Child Smile with a $5,000 donation from their members! Thank you so much for supporting Help A Child Smile.

Thank you to Dante Lodge No. 19 in Welland for collecting donations from the Children’s Chirstmas Party and matching them.

Big Thanks goes out to President Lina Borreiti, Elsa D’Innocenzo, Amy LeDonne ,  Albert Longo, Carlo Esposito

and all the members of Dante Lodge

Shown in Picture Elsa D’Innocenzo, Amy LeDonne, Margaret ( Peggy) Charron 

In the town of Ancaster, there’s a special story about two kind-hearted kids named Josie and Ace Travis. They wanted to do something really nice to remember a dear family friend who had passed away. So, they came up with a wonderful idea – a lemonade stand! It’s not just any stand, though. It’s a way to show how much they cared about their friend. They made a sign that said, “Lemonade for a Cause,” and the word spread all around their close-knit community. People from all over, including neighbors, friends, and even some they didn’t know, came to support their heartfelt mission. Under the hot sun, with pitchers of lemonade being poured and poured again, something amazing happened. A long line of eager customers formed, and each person was touched by Josie and Ace’s caring efforts. With hard work and the kindness of their customers, the Travis siblings collected an incredible $500. 

Thank you to The Glass Slipper Company for selecting Help A Child Smile as the beneficiary for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Ball held on New Year’s Eve. Cinderella presented a $2,500 cheque to Help A Child Smile.

Tara and Chloe Hutson accepted the cheque on behalf of Help A Child Smile. Chloe is holding a picture of her late sister, Caitlin.