A good deed inspired by Rider Pride has snowballed and will help a planeload of young people who have cancer get to the Grey Cup.
It started earlier this week when a group trying to send a Regina man with cancer to the Grey Cup reached its fundraising goal and then surpassed it.
That young man, Chris Knox, will be accompanying Premier Brad Wall to Toronto on a special flight.
More than $10,000 was raised, exceeding everyone's expectations.
One of the organizers of the trip, Trevor Lowey, said he was driving along thinking about all the extra money and support when he got an idea.
He immediately called up another volunteer on his cellphone.
"I said, 'Hey Kelly, how about we charter another airplane and we send 10 cancer kids to the Grey Cup with their families.'"
Since then, organizers have been putting the idea in motion. They've chartered a plane at cost and the flight crew is working for free.
One of the 10 recipients is 17-year-old Craig Tschetter, who has been battling cancer since March. He got the call Thursday at his home in Swift Current, asking if he'd like to go to the Grey Cup.
"Oh, it's really exciting," he said. "Everyone in Saskatchewan, I'm sure, would like to go and I'm one of the few that gets to … it's pretty awesome."
Although travel arrangements had been nailed down by Friday, there were concerns about whether tickets would be available at the sold-out CFL championship game.
Lowey got his answer later in the day when a box at Rogers Stadium was donated by an unidentified man.
"He's in Toronto, actually, and has a luxury suite available, and he gave it to us," he said.
The Grey Cup game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers begins at 4:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.
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