By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – There is something about charity that brings people together. When local celebrities and professional athletes come together in order to raise money for a worthy cause, it is evident that this charity organization is a special one. This year marked the 7th annual Sian Bradwell West Island Lakers All-Star Weekend.
Together with the support of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Sian Bradwell Foundation was able to raise $2,000 dollars in just one day of auctioning off great prizes. Last Sunday, as part of the festivities, some members of the Als took on various radio stars from CHOM, CJAD and Mix 96 to what proved to be a nail-biter until the final buzzer.
Twenty years ago, Ken and Sharon Bradwell welcomed a daughter, Sian, into the world. Unfortunately, Sian was quickly diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer which caused her to pass away when she was just 17 months old. Six years later, Sharon and Ken founded the Sian Bradwell Foundation to raise money in order to buy new equipment for the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
This past weekend was a great success, and the organizer of the event, Mike Gaudin, enjoyed every last minute of it. “This is the seventh year that we are doing this and we do it for a good cause,” said Gaudin. “We are very fortunate to have a woman like Sharon helping us out every year; she is the reason we’re able to do this every year.”
For Als centre Bryan Chiu, being a new parent gives him more incentive and more of an understanding of what it is like to love a child. “With the whole background of the story and the reason why we’re here, being a new parent really gives me even more of a reason to be out here today,” Chiu said. Star quarterback Anthony Calvillo, also a proud father of a young child, coming out for a great cause is like returning a favour. “I come out and enjoy charity work because when I was younger, people volunteered for me,” he said.
Throughout the game the CJAD and Friends team held a slight lead which was eventually broken late in the second half by the Alouettes team. In the end it was the Alouettes who came out the victor but it was truly a victory for another team, the Bradwell family.
