Schmirler Foundation makes donation to Red Deer hospital
Although Olds, Alta., will have to wait another year for the Humpty’s Champions Cup, the Sandra Schmirler Foundation is continuing its commitment to the community.
The charity announced Monday it is providing a $10,000 grant to the electronic fetal monitoring project at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. An additional matching donation will be made next year when the Olds Sportsplex hosts the 2022 Humpty’s Champions Cup.
The Sandra Schmirler Foundation was established in 2001 to honour Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion Sandra Schmirler and is committed to helping premature and critically ill newborns and providing scholarships to junior curlers to support them on their path to success in the sport.
“We want all babies born too soon, too small or too sick to have the chance to grow up and be champions,” said Ian Cunningham, chair of the Sandra Schmirler Foundation board, in a release. “The reason we exist is to honour Sandra’s legacy and to remember her by raising funds to donate to [neonatal intensive care units] and hospitals. It’s very rewarding for us to be able to support the purchase of this crucial piece of equipment for their NICU.”
Team Jones second Jocelyn Peterman, who is from Red Deer, tweeted: “So many of my friends and family have been taken care of at the NICU in Red Deer,” “Thank you @SandraSchmirler for all you do to help champions start small.”
The 2021 Humpty’s Champions Cup was scheduled to take place in the Olds but due to the COVID-19 pandemic will now begin Thursday in the hub city at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.
This donation could not be made without the generosity of curling fans. The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling has partnered with the Sandra Schmirler Foundation for a number of years with “crowd sweep” fundraisers held during events. This year in-person crowd sweeps are not possible due to COVID-19, if fans want to help raise money for these grants they can donate at www.sandraschmirler.org or text SANDRA to 20222.
