Alberta's Good News Stories Of 2015

Six-year-old Mabel Tooke has been battling cancer since 2013 but in September, she fought crime instead. Mable began reading 1960s-era Spiderman comics after she was diagnosed with leukemia, her family said. She took a liking to the character because he was the closest superhero to a human being, and because they both had radioactive blood, a side effect of cancer treatment.The city of Edmonton came together to stage a special day for Mable. She worked together with Mayor Don Iveson, the police department, and West Edmonton Mall to help recapture Oilers' captain Andrew Ference and save the city. (See the day's adorable events unfold here.)

Twelve-year-old Ethan Jogola of Mayerthorpe, Alta., has always dreamed of going to space, despite struggling with cystic fibrosis. On Oct. 1, the Make-A-Wish Foundation helped Jogola with some inspiration for his future space travel, by flying him out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where he met former astronaut and the first man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin gave the aspiring astronaut his seal of approval for future missions."Yeah, he wants me to go to Mars," Jogola told CBC News.

An anonymous donor in Calgary made Christmas special for 180 at-risk kids with a private screening of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for them in December. Luke Skywalker himself approved. "Helping the less fortunate embodies the very spirit of the saga. Bravo! Hope we all see more of this kindness," Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) tweeted.

It was a tough time for Alberta's economy in 2015. Connect First Credit Union decided they wanted to make things a little easier for some of their customers who were having trouble making ends meet. As a Christmas gift, the company paid bills for 81 members around the province — even saving some from foreclosure. (Click here to watch a video of their reactions.)

A firefighter with Downtown Fire Station 1 in Calgary was paddleboarding to work in August when he spotted a cell phone in the riverbed. He dove down to retrieve it, and brought it back to the station where he dried it out. Without a way to contact the owner, the firefighters started posting "selfies" of the phone's activities on owner Nathan Buhler's Facebook. Eventually the phone and Buhler were reunited.

Stettler couple Cody and Eva Borek received a free trip to Hawaii when they purchased a new car. But instead of using the vacation themselves, they decided to reward a person "who lives like Christ" with the prize. The Boreks set up a Facebook contest in January to find the "Most Loving Person in Central Alberta." In the end, the prize went to a silent auction to raise money for the families of two RCMP officers that were killed in the line of duty. “We talked about it, and we wanted to do something to give back,” said Cody.

Jodi and Ted Parent's son, Cole, passed away from brain cancer in December 2012. In November 2015, the couple was looking to take a family portrait with their newborn daughter, but still wanted to include Cole somehow in the photos. Enter Edmonton photographer, Natalie D'Aoust, who suggested bringing an old photo of Cole into the new photos, which turned out beautifully. "When they told me about Cole, I asked if we could do this for them and they were thrilled by the idea of having Cole in their photos with them — where he belongs," D'Aoust said.

Fluffy, a four-year-old Presa Canario, had spent more than 100 days at the Calgary Humane Society, when the shelter decided to get creative. The society launched a Twitter campaign in July to showcase all the different ways Fluffy would be a great companion. A few months after, in August, Fluffy found his forever home.(Click here to watch the heartwarming video.)

An Edmonton organization was so overwhelmed with donations for Syrian refugees in December that they ran out of room to store them. Hallways at the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers were overflowing with bags of clothing and the group had to use their prayer room to store excess donations. Other non-profit groups had to step in to help.So much generosity!

After a train station was targeted with hateful graffiti this winter, a group of young Calgarians decided to cover it up with something more positive.The group greeted morning commuters with posters featuring quotes about love and acceptance.