Edmonton Oilers defenceman Jason Strudwick is a long-time supporter of the Stollery Children's Hospital.

There’s the old adage ‘you can’t put a price on happiness’ but one Oilers fan wasn’t willing to take their chances, generously donating $19,000 to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation Radiothon this past week in exchange for a special prize package offered by Edmonton Oilers Jason Strudwick.

Strudwick and his wife Schoena are long-time supporters of the Stollery Children’s Hospital and make it a priority to participate in the Radiothon to help raise necessary funds for priority needs at the hospital.

“We’re very fortunate to play in a city where hockey’s very important and so it’s important for us to give back to the community,” said Strudwick.

“Each guy on the team has a charity that’s significant to him for different reasons and for us, we like to spend time working with the Stollery.”
 
Hundreds of volunteers operated a live phone bank on February 23 & 24 answering thousands of calls and taking donations throughout the event. Amongst those volunteers were the Oilers Ladies, including Schoena Strudwick, and Oil Kings TJ Foster and Adrian Van De Mosselaer.

At one point during the Radiothon, Strudwick made a special offer to listeners; the highest bidder will receive a special prize pack that includes a private meet and greet for the classroom of the bidder’s child with himself, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Tom Gilbert.

At a very generous $19,000, the lucky bidder walked away with a once-in-a-lifetime offer and a very happy kid.

“We're off the charts happy with the $1,335,250 raised [this year],” added Jan Archbold, Stollery Vice President Marketing & Communications. “We truly appreciate the support Jason and Schoena provide for the Foundation and the kids.”

Along with lending their time and resources to special events held at the Stollery, Strudwick and his teammates make an effort to visit the kids and their families on an on-going basis. 

“We try to arrange visits with the team and get there as often as we can. We have a lot of faith in the Stollery and what they do and so I think it’s important for all of us to spend some time there giving back,” said Strudwick.

Since 2001, Radiothon has raised more than $14.7 million for the Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Oilers are honoured to be a part of the Stollery’s continued success.