A Night Out for Emma Bennett and Family rallying community support

(Peters Paving Inc. Facebook Image)

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

Members of the community are encouraged to gather together for a fun evening to support a local resident battling cancer and her family.

A Night in Support of Emma Bennett and Family will be held at the Oxford Auditorium in Woodstock on Oct. 25 starting at 8 p.m. The event will feature games, live music, and a silent auction to support Bennett and her family, including her two children. Bennett was diagnosed with cancer and fought it last year. The cancer returned and she is facing medical treatment.

“I just thought that it doesn't take much to get people together and rally and try to make their family some money so that they can buy a new house or go to school for the kids,” said Chad Yates, one of the organizers.

Yates works with her brother Derek, a foreman at Peters Paving, and wants to ease the financial burden on the family.

"He's like a brother to me too, so it seemed like the right thing to do to try to raise some money for the family for the future,” he said.

The organizers behind the event are looking for the community to donate items for gift baskets, tickets, services, and gift cards for the silent auction. In a follow-up with the Echo, Yates said that some items have been donated, mostly smaller door prize items for the silent auction.

He spoke with his friend, who is an auctioneer, and they’re looking for big-ticket items to auction off in person at the event. So far, there are concert tickets for Brad Paisley’s show on Dec. 11 and Bailey Zimmerman’s show on June 19, 2026, both at Canada Life Place in London. Yates would also like to see donations for sports game tickets, like the London Knights.

He added those who know Emma and her family have been showing plenty of support online. He’s also been talking with local businesses to see if they have any items to donate.

"People are very kind and seem to be very giving, so, so far so good.”

With about a month to go until the event, those behind the fundraiser will use the last few weeks leading up to the event to encourage as much community involvement as possible.

Tickets for the event are $25 each. Financial donations can be made via e-transfer to emmabennettfundraiser@gmail.com. More information can be found by either calling Yates at 519-532-249 or Tina at 519-788-5349.

To RSVP for the event online, search “Emma Bennett Fundraiser” on Facebook or visit https://tinyurl.com/emma-bennett-fundraiser.