Get on ice, hit the stones: Kurling for Kids lands in Winnipeg for first time

Around 100 people came out for Kurling for Kids on Saturday, with teams raising money for the Children's hospital Foundation.

Regardless of which team you are supporting, it was all for the children’s health needs.

Kurling for Kids landed at Winnipeg’s Granite Curling Club for the first time on Saturday, expanding its presence in Manitoba.

Supporting the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, the fundraising event raised more than $45,000, surpassing its initial goal of $30,000.

“We see dozens of curlers and wanna-be-curlers like me, gathering around the curling sheets here – raising dollars for the summer speech therapy program, improving health, supporting kids throughout our province,” said Stefano Grande, president and CEO of the foundation.

Nancy Cipryk, the foundation’s capital campaigns co-chair, said the community connection from the event is unbelievable.

“I haven’t met most of these people … we’ve been playing against them, we’re cheering for each other on different teams,” she said.

Saturday’s fundraiser was to support the speech language therapy program, which supports children with craniofacial challenges, teaching them how to speak, to be proud, how to engage with other kids, build resiliency and courage, said Grande.

“My co-chair, Kirsten McConnell and I, of the capital campaigns, we have decided that we are the voice for these children that don’t have a voice. Some are too small, some are too sick to have a voice – we’re giving them a voice,” Cipryk said.

Grande said the fundraising effort is “critical” for the hospital.

“If you think about the needs of our children’s hospital, it’s significant. What our donors do is they elevate those needs in terms of programming – like speech therapy program, specialized equipment, life-saving technology, revitalizing our spaces like Indigenous healing room.

“Our donors are the hearts of our foundation.”

More information about the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba can be found online.