Local youth receives Hero Award
Many readers will recall that this summer, seven-year-old Rylan Williams of Pincher Creek raised over $5,000 for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation through his Hair Raising Fundraiser.
Rylan grew his hair out for over two years to donate to Wigs for Kids B.C., and ran his fundraising campaign through the Kids Helping Kids program to coincide with the hair donation.
To honour Rylan and the many other children who raised money through the program, the foundation hosted its annual Kids Helping Kids celebration at Calaway Park in Calgary on Sept. 24.
At the time, Rylan was blissfully unaware that he was to be presented with one of five 2023 Hero Awards by the ACHF. The award recognizes kids who go above and beyond in raising money for the foundation.
“I found out that Rylan was going to win the award a month before. They said I could let him know or keep it a surprise, so I decided to keep it a surprise for him,” says Candice Williams, Rylan’s mother.
“Rylan was very surprised and excited when they announced him as the fifth recipient of the Hero Award.”
The festivities began in the early afternoon with an awards ceremony, where the foundation announced that Kids Helping Kids fundraisers had raised a grand total of over $400,000 this year.
“I was feeling really happy because I worked really hard, and I was so happy for all we did to help people, and it is just a great memory with the children’s hospital,” Rylan says.
“I was just bursting with excitement.”
After the ceremony, the kids and their families were treated to a barbecue lunch before enjoying the rest of the fall day in the park. Candice says Rylan repeatedly called it “the best day ever.”
Candice extends her heartfelt gratitude to all of the people of Pincher Creek who helped and supported Rylan during this fundraiser journey.
“It has been such an amazing adventure and experience for Rylan to do this,” she says, “and it would have been impossible without everyone.”
Learn more:
Article – Two year’s worth of hair going to Wigs for Kids
