Aldergrove saw a ninth successful poker tournament hosted by the legion for the Mangat family鈥檚 annual tournament to raise funds to fight childhood cancer.

Since 2015, the family has held fundraisers to honour the memory of Jodi Mangat鈥檚 mother, Surjit Dhillon, who passed away of pancreatic cancer at age 72 in 2014.

Justin Mangat, son of Jodi and grandson of Dhillon, thanked the community for coming out to Saturday鈥檚 (Feb. 17) tournament to support families who are experiencing the challenges of cancer.

鈥淣one of this would be possible without everyone coming out today. We are going on the 10 year anniversary since my grandma passed away, and thank you everyone for coming out,鈥� he said at the event.

The annual event has been growing each year, raising $80,000 since its inception, Jodi estimated.

Thanks to 15 volunteers and 68 players, the Saturday tournament raised close to $6,000, short of last year鈥檚 $9,000 but it didn鈥檛 deter the Mangat family.

鈥淚t is a drop from the last one, but it鈥檚 okay. We have two more to go. I鈥檓 thankful to all our players, sponsors, and volunteers.鈥�

鈥淥ur family witnessed first hand how this disease can take over a families鈥� life, and completely devastate it,鈥� Jodi told the 91原创 Advance Times.

They started with one poker night a year, which grew to two poker nights a year, and now, in addition to the poker nights, they host a softball tournament in August, all focusing on helping families affected by childhood cancers.

鈥淭his is in memory of mom,鈥� Jodi said. 鈥淭his will be 10 years since my mom passed, and knowing that everyone in the room remembers her for even a minute makes me so happy knowing her memory is still alive.鈥�

Justin described his grandma as someone who was always caring.

鈥淚 think if she could see how much a community was kind of banding around the idea of helping those in need, I think she鈥檇 be really appreciative and she would have love that.鈥�

He also expressed his gratitude to the community for their 鈥渙verwhelming鈥� support.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 thank the community enough. It鈥檚 amazing how much the community has supported us,鈥� Justin said.

The family hopes to continue raising funds for cancer research and support, and Jodi hopeful more people will join in and participate in their future events.

Their next fundraiser is another poker tournament in June, followed by a softball tournament held in July.

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