A fundraiser held last weekend (February 9), once again shows how supportive our community is when helping a family in need.

Erol's Automotive, Cochrane Napa Auto Parts, and Castrol Oil volunteered their time and products to help Chris Lindsey and his family get through a difficult chapter in their lives. In the past year, Chris Lindsey has been diagnosed with cancer, not once but twice, and although he may look like he is on the road to recovery, his longterm health remains shaky and unknown at this time.

Erol Yersel, the owner of Erol's Automotive, says when he learned of the family's situation, it was easy to climb on board. "The Chris Lindsey fund was brought to my attention, and when I found out a little about them and how awesome they are, I thought where else would I want to put my money?!"

Greg Alfred with Castrol Oil says he got involved because their families are quite similar. "There was a lot of driving forces; Chris (Lindsey) has a daughter, six years old named Jayden, and I have a son, six years old who is also a Jayden, so there are a lot of similarities. But what it really comes down to is no different than what like Erol said, it is good to do this in your backyard and in my community. I have worked within Cochrane for six, seven years now and, to me, this is my home so if am going to help out I would rather help out my community and my neighbour."

Presenting the Lindsey's with a $7000 cheque, Yersel completely crushed his $5000 goal and people are still dropping off money in support of the family.

To say the Lindsey family is beyond grateful is an understatement. Nenita shares the support for her husband and family is something hard even to comprehend. "Humbled. When someone is sick, and it just goes on and on, you think everyone just gets on with their life and carries on but then when you're reminded that people haven't forgotten us, they are still helping us, and people are still reaching out. We are grateful and so thankful, and we just want to pay it forward."

The $7000 cheque is almost unimaginable, says Chris, and all the money will go towards helping them cover off expenses. "Catching up some bills that we are behind on, that is really where it is all going. The banks have been pretty good at letting us scrape by until now, but now it's time for us to start giving back some chunks to the banks for helping us. Cochrane is amazing, and I don't know if we were living anywhere else if we would have made it. I truly don't want to think what would have happened if we were in any other community other than Cochrane."

Not looking for any sort of recognition, Yersel is pretty humble when it comes to how much money he invests back into supporting local. "In a year to charities in this town...probably over $25,000 goes back into the community. I would much rather keep it here because I think Cochrane is a great town and this was just another cause that came to light that we were glad to help out with."

The fundraiser cost Greg with Castrol Oil roughly 1500 dollars in product, Gerry with Napa Auto Parts 500 dollars, and for Erol's Automotive, time from family and his thirteen employees. Giving special thanks to all his staff, Yersel was pretty proud. "I think my staff is amazing. I approached them with the fundraiser, and it was unanimous, no hesitation, yes we will gladly do this. I want to thank my staff from the bottom of my heart, and I think it was great for them to step up, it was great team building and they were truly thrilled to do it for the Lindsey family, especially when the Lindsey family came in to meet them."