Champions for Charity ‘lifesaving’ donations exceed $1-Million for MacKids since 2019
By Jeff Hicks
KITCHENER —
A million fundraising jabs. A million beads of community sweat. A million dollars for our kids.
Donations for Mandy Bujold’s third Champions for Charity fundraising boxing event soared past the goal of $500,000 in March — meaning the community spectacle has raised more than a million dollars for McMaster Children’s Hospital over 2019, 2024 and 2025.
The success of the event, which culminates April 4 in The Brawl at Tapestry Hall, is staggering.
“When we launched Champions for Charity in 2019, I knew it had the potential to make an impact,” said Bujold — event organizer, two-time Olympic boxer and mother of two little girls.
“But to see our community come together and raise over $1-million in just three events is beyond anything I could have imagined.”
Over those three events, sixty boxers — business leaders and community pillars, almost all strangers to the ring and its disciplines— have trained, fundraised and fought for MacKids under the Champions for Charity banner.
Neither pandemic nor cross-border bluster could quench their community’s thirst for a mixed water-bottle ambrosia of the sweet science and sweeter charity.
Fist bumps from Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, will only fire the fighting community spirit in Waterloo Region. We go toe-to-toe for our kids.
“Thank you to the community for their amazing dedication and support over the last three Champions for Charity events raising critical funds for McMaster Children’s Hospital, ultimately raising the bar for pediatric health care for our region,” said Vanessa Macedo, the Development Officer for Partnerships for Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation.
“Thanks to this community support, the impact made has been truly lifesaving as we have been able to make investments in equipment such as Difficult Airway Carts for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Operating Rooms. Thank you for making this possible.”
A million dollars for McMaster seemed a far-off possibility six years ago.
Thanks to the Champions for Charity fighters, coaches, trainers and their supporters, it’s a knockout reality, Bujold says.
Three events. A million bucks for MacKids — ensuring future world-class care for our kids.
In 2019, the Champs raised $168,000. Bam.
In 2024, they fought for $340,000. Bam.
This year, it’s $518,000 and counting. Bam.
“Champions for Charity has always been about more than just the fights in the ring—it’s about the fight to make a difference,” Bujold said. “Reaching this milestone is proof of what we can accomplish when we stand in each other’s corner.”
Raising the second million for the care of our kids has already begun.
“People are really getting behind this cause,” said Champion for Charity boxer Harmony Voisin, a Kitchener property manager and mother of four.
“Mandy has developed something really cool here.”
www.champsforcharity.ca
