A tragic incident on Boxing Day saw Prince George resident Jesse Bennett pass away due to carbon monoxide poisoning when he went to check on one of the homes he was building.
Family and friends have now come together to support his immediate family.
A GoFundMe page was set up by some of the guys Bennett played hockey with, and the page has already raised over $87,000.
Jamie Kohler, one of Bennett’s teammates, said they wanted to do something to help out Bennett’s family.
“We reached out to Jesse’s family before we set (the GoFundMe page) up. Just to do something, support him. Jesse was really well known, between playing hockey, and what he was doing in the community.”
Kohler added that he and some of the other guys who played hockey with Bennett got together at the rink at the Curling Club to remember Bennett.
“So after his passing, we were just thinking of some way to get together with all of the guys outside of our normal organized hockey.”
“We just decided to get together, we just chat, and talk about Jesse, and tell stories, and just be with everybody,” said Kohler.
“He was just a genuine guy, he sticks up for everybody. Anything you needed, he was the guy who’d give you the shirt off his back.”
Kohler said Bennett was first and foremost a family man.
“There were times because I hunt, and he hunts, and we’d ask about how the hunting season was going, or the trips. And he would never start off with saying what they got or anything like that. The first comments out of his mouth every time was something new that his boy did. Always kind of showed that his kids were more important.”