Jeff Van Gyssel turns life’s 2nd chance to his 1st Champions for Charity fight in the ring By Jeff Hicks www.champsforcharity.ca NEW HAMBURG — The radio crackled. Jeff Van Gyssel, drugs and a two-four in his pickup truck, lent a weary ear as heaviness suffocated the 28-year-old construction supervisor. Darkness engulfed him as he sat…
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Kyle Jackson promises a unique way of marking himself as a 2025 Champion for Charity By Jeff Hicks ChampsforCharity.ca OAKVILLE — Kyle Jackson has an empty patch of skin on his right forearm. It would be perfect for his 26th tattoo — an ink-etched tribute to earning a coveted place in the fundraising ring as…
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Allan Cayenne is ‘fired up’ to be part of the burning Champions for Charity legacy By Jeff Hicks www.champsforcharity.ca KITCHENER — Mandy Bujold swung the wooden mallet like a two-time Olympian looking for a knockout. Her boxing coach, Syd Vanderpool, held the spigot tight to the Oktoberfest keg as Bavarian beer flew through the Carl…
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Jaime Wilson, Champion for Charity, has ‘moving’ experience working with McMaster doctors By Jeff Hicks www.champsforcharity.ca WATERLOO — Jaime Wilson was frozen in a Iceberg Alley trance. A tall, North Atlantic popsicle — swirling azure hues glaring down over ferocious whitecaps of the Labrador Current — towered above the Cambridge native and her teammate. Their…
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20 Champions for Charity get the call to box for McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation By Jeff Hicks ChampsforCharity.ca KITCHENER — Anne Filiatrault had painted herself into a unfamiliar corner. The Blue Team corner. “Oh, my gawd!” thought the 55-year-old landscape artist and illustrator as she read her email invitation to become of Mandy Bujold’s Champions…
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Twenty local professionals have made the cut to compete at the Champions for Charity Brawl at Tapestry Hall in Cambridge. The annual charity event has raised over $500,000 for McMaster Children’s Hospital, KidsAbility, and Scotland’s Yard (Grand River Hospital Foundation). WATERLOO, ON. November 28, 2024 – After two days of gruelling tryouts in November, Mandy…
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By Jeff Hicks www.champsforcharity.ca KITCHENER — Allan Cayenne is prepared to make big sacrifices. No more chocolate-covered peanut butter cups. No more sour patch gummies. No more hand-spun cotton candy. His sweet tooth, if he gets the call to become one of Mandy Bujold’s Champions for Charity, will be pulled in submission to the discipline…
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75 local professionals are trying out for the annual charity event to raise funds for McMaster Children’s Hospital, KidsAbility and Scotland’s Yard (Grand River Hospital Foundation). WATERLOO, ON. November 7, 2024 – Mandy Bujold and Champions for Charity are excited to welcome over 75 local professionals to tryouts for the next round of the…
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A Big Haul for McMaster Children’s Hospital — $336,221 & counting —as Champions for Charity dazzle & ‘change lives’ in The Brawl at Tapestry Hall By Jeff Hicks www.ChampsForCharity.ca CAMBRIDGE — Ben, 7, grinned wide in a yellow bow tie. Hannah, looking so cute and sophisticated in grey bow tie and suit vest, scrunched up…
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Jaimi Ferreira gets a second chance to be a Champion for Charity and fight for McMaster Children’s Hospital By Jeff Hicks ChampsForCharity.ca KITCHENER — Jaimi Ferreira is back. Just like the tonsils that were taken out but grew back when she was little. Ferreira, cheerfully stubborn and pleasingly pesky, is a Champion for Charity once…
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