Curlers are much like golfers when it comes to raising money — they do it very well.
And there’s one charity which seemingly unites the curling community more than any other: the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, named in honour of the late Canadian curling legend and which raises funds to buy equipment to help critically-ill children.
One of the biggest fundraisers for that organization, Kurl For Kids, happened in Oakville, Ont., on April 6 to 8 and Kerry Galusha was one of the celebrity skips who took the reigns for one of the 32 teams that hit the ice.
The event happens every Easter weekend, which Galusha said makes it easy to attend.
“I try to go each year because it means a lot to me personally,” she said.
The bonspiel is absolutely non-competitive, even though there are winners crowned at the end of it all. The format features people trying to raise as much money as they can which determines the skip they play with. This year, Galusha was selected by a group of curlers from Sarnia, Ont.: Jonathon Doan, Mark Saunders and Doug Booth.
Galusha said the club that the trio curl out of hosts its own fundraiser for the cause and did quite well in terms of the final total.
“They fundraised $10,875 for the Schmirler Foundation and they chose me as their skip,” she said. “I was really happy with my team this year and we did really well.”
Their overall record? Four wins and one loss, she added.
Once everything was done on the ice, the business off the ice began and it all concluded with presentations of prizes, awards and the announcement of the amount raised, which was $134,278, beating last year’s total of $128,580.
That money is being split between the Schmirler Foundation and the Oakville Hospital Foundation, the local charity which benefits from the bonspiel.
“The numbers seem to go up each year and that’s so awesome to see,” said Galusha. “We’re all there for one reason and that’s to raise as much as we can and it’s really neat to be involved in it.”
One part of the weekend involves hearing from a parent whose child has been affected by the work of the Schmirler Foundation and that’s always one of the big moments of it all for Galusha.
“It’s really moving to hear those stories and knowing our work is helping babies who are in crisis,” she said. “It’s such a good feeling.”