GoFundMe organizer humbled by support
Hair stylist Sylvie Kellington remembers Stephen Wack visiting Jenga’z Salon for haircuts — the same place the Humboldt Broncos got their hair bleached for the playoffs.
Both Wack and Kellington came from central Alberta — Wack from St. Albert, Kellington from Athabasca. The mother of two teens connected with the 21-year-old defenceman.
“He was a very nice kid,” Kellington said on Wednesday. She also remembered Logan Boulet as “such a sweet, kind boy.” She reached out to his mother after he died.
Kellington, 35, launched a GoFundMe campaign on the night of the accident. It raised more than $15 million.
A Humboldt resident for the past five years, Kellington is reluctant to take credit for the effort. She turned down an interview request from the New York Times and other international media outlets. The credit belongs to all of the people who came together to support the Broncos, she says.
Wack and Boulet were among the 16 people who died in the crash. Thirteen others are recovering from their injuries.
“They were the cream of the crop,” Kellington said. “It’s not like talking to just a teenager ... they’re intellectuals and they’re well-spoken and they carry on a conversation. They’re just good boys. They’re good members of the community, they help out.”
Hockey has been part of her family since her son Dylan, now 15, started playing the game. It has filled the family’s winters. Dylan played for the Bantam ‘A’ Broncos last season.
“It’s the hub of the community. It’s our sport,” she said.
She was at home on the evening of April 6, exchanging messages with her husband, who was underground at his job at a potash mine. He told her about the crash.
She was stricken by the magnitude of the tragedy.
“I remember just thinking about all the families and people that I kind of knew that would be affected,” Kellington said.
She and a friend, Cailin Hergott, exchanged messages on Facebook, both in shock.
They wanted to do something. Kellington suggested starting a GoFundMe campaign.
She pulled out her phone, and with a “few taps,” launched the campaign. The goal was $5,000 at first, then $10,000. From there it took off.
“I knew that it would hit hard for us and for people around this community and maybe Saskatchewan. But never did I think it would go worldwide. Unbelievable,” she says.
The breadth of the support has been overwhelming for her.
The day after the launch, she was nervous, seeing it had raised $80,000.
She quickly messaged Broncos assistant coach Chris Beaudry, who was not on the bus at the time of the crash.
For the week after the collision, Kellington said she felt like she was in a dreamlike state. She also felt guilty, she said.
“You feel guilty for having the emotions you do because I didn’t lose anybody personally.”
She thought of her daughter Gabby’s vice-principal, who lost a son. It was hard to see her own daughter, 13, become emotional, she said.
“It affects everybody. Those big reporters from the big cities, they had no idea how you’re such a small, close-knit community where everybody is affected. Lots of people I knew billeted these boys,” she said.
“You look at Kevin Garinger, his role in this has been just — he’s my new superhero. The things he has taken on and the hats that he
Reporters from the big cities, they had no idea how you’re such a small, closeknit community where everybody is affected.
wears: the superintendent of the Horizon School Division, he was a billet dad, he’s the president of this club and he was the face all over TV and interviews. I couldn’t believe it.”
Garinger said the organization wants nothing more than to ensure that the families are looked after.
“That’s been our priority from Day 1. To be honest with you, we’d trade every bit of it back in a heartbeat for having our families back together. We’d trade everything we have to have it back,” he said.
The funds will be transferred to a non-profit corporation, the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund, and administered by a law firm. The organization also launched the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation, where funds received after the close of the GoFundMe campaign will go.
Through the foundation, Garinger said the legacy of Bronco members will live on, and to be able to give back will be “incredible.”
Kellington said the outpouring of support has been healing for everyone. She is proud to be a part of the community and country and although she’s sad, she sees that people are good and want to help others, she said.
“I also hope in the future that anybody else who is struck with tragedy can feel the love and the support that we’ve received.”