A St. Albert bar owner is calling on local dads to bare their bellies this weekend in honour of a community champion.
St. Albert-area residents held a memorial service for youth advocate Kyle Dubé on March 12. A well-known resident of St. Albert and long-time executive director of the Edmonton-based non-profit YOUCAN Youth Services (which has helped hundreds of at-risk youth stay in school and/or find jobs), Dubé died in early March.
Tributes to Dubé have poured in from across the region, with St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron and Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi both declaring March 12 to be Kyle Dubé Day in their communities.
The GoFundMe page for the Kyle Dubé Memorial Fund had received about $71,000 in donations after just eight days as of March 13, and was closing in on its $100,000 goal.
Dad bods for Dubé?
St. Albert’s Thirsty Rooster Eatery & Bar, Alpine Auto Wash, and the Dads of St. Albert Facebook group are hosting a free Dad Bod Charity Car Wash in support of the Dubé family this Saturday.
Thirsty Rooster co-owner Ken Shebib said he and Dubé met years ago through a fundraiser for the Humboldt Broncos hockey team. Learning they both had children who had died, they became friends.
“Kyle took care of our children when we couldn’t,” Shebib said, and his death was a tremendous loss for the community.
Shebib said he and his fiancé Lindsay Keys were devastated when they learned March 6 of Dubé’s passing.
“We got up the next morning and Lindsay said, ‘Let’s turn this into something positive. Let’s do something for [Dubé’s] family.'”
Shebib said he had been thinking about doing a humorous “dad bod” calendar as a charity fundraiser for years now and decided to actually do one this year to support the Dubé family and YOUCAN Youth Services. (“Dad bod” is a slang term referring to the chubby physique of many middle-aged men.) He contacted the Dads of St. Albert (who often met in his bar) and Alpine Auto Wash next door, both of which agreed to join the project.
Shebib said staff at his bar plus Dads of St. Albert volunteers will be at Alpine Auto Wash this March 16 giving free car washes to anyone who drives in. Some will be wearing silly costumes. Others may go shirtless to flaunt their “flawless” physiques.
Shebib said drivers will be invited to donate whatever they want to the Dubé family and to pose with the car washers for a photo. They can also (tastefully) show off their dad bods, too. Drivers will get a digital copy of the photo.
Shebib said a panel of judges (likely bar patrons and Dads of St. Albert members) will pick the 12 best photos for a calendar that will go on sale this December, the sales of which will also support the Dubé family. He hoped to hold a similar car wash/calendar event in December to support YOUCAN.
Shebib said he hoped to get as many people out to this fundraiser as possible.
“That family, they lost Luke [Dubé] at 16 years old three years ago. They lost Kyle this year. I think as a community we have to wrap our arms around them and give back to that family. They sacrificed so much for everyone else.”
The charity car wash runs from 1 to 5 p.m. March 16 at 10 McKenney Ave. in St. Albert. Questions on the fundraiser should go to Shebib, who will be onsite and possibly dressed as a bar of soap.
