Local men turned teasing into a fundraising motivator for a cancer support organization.

During last month's Candlelighters Online Auction, Winkler Councillor Michael Grenier received some playful feedback from coworkers after bidding on a pair of 'Sweet Legs' for his wife.

Taking things to the next level, Grenier put out a challenge to supporters that, if they raised $1,000, he would wear the pair of women's leggings to work. After the money was raised within hours, Grenier upped the ante, adding he would jump into Lake Minnewasta wearing his wife's leggings if the group broke $7,500. Local residents Steve Peters and Dan Sawatsky joined the challenge as well.

"I don't know what I got myself into," Grenier says laughing. "It's a great cause, it's a fun one to support."

The challenges continued, after hitting $10,000 the guys waxed their legs. At $15,000, Sawatsky and others pledged to bike from Boundary Trails Health Centre between Morden and Winkler to the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg to symoblize the journey many children, like Sawatsky's own son Alex, have made for cancer treatments.

"We've been impacted by the Candlelighters organization when my son was sick... it's nice to see things snowball here and people were super generous," Sawatsky say.

Grenier sporting the 'Sweet Legs' at city council

Since the group's first online auction in 2012, the amount raised each year has grown exponentially. The inaugural event six years ago raised $3,200.

The event raises funds to support an annual family camp for families with a child with cancer, private movie events for children who have a suppressed immune system, a day at an amusement park, gas and parking passes, and care baskets for families with a newly diagnosed child.

In 2017 the online auction raised $34,000.