I support Kurling for Kids because it’s a great community cause that is also lots of fun!  

I support K4K because a fellow RMCC member asked me to help out—and I got hooked! Over the years I’ve curled on K4K fundraising teams (I even have a trophy!) and eventually became more and more involved with the coordination of the event at our club. I don’t have kids, nor have I ever visited either hospital. But I curl—and volunteer—with two doctors who have recently retired from Montreal Children’s Hospital. Their passion, dedication and enthusiasm is contagious—you just know great things are happening thanks to K4K’s amazing fundraising efforts. I’m honoured to be a part of it.

K4K organization is very “up front” about how the donations will be spent to buy specialized and much needed medical equipment for the treatment of sick children.

The money we raise by selling raffle tickets, or any other means, buys medical equipment that improves and saves the lives of many children. It is an unfortunate event that a child would leave behind their parents. An extremely unfortunate thing, which is difficult for any parent to accept. If by supporting Kurling for Kids, I can prevent this horrific event from ever happening, I feel I have made a difference.

I support K4K because of who it supports. When I was young, I spent a bit of time at the Montreal Children’s Hospital with a strange illness; Henoch-Schonlein Purpura, a disorder that causes inflammation and bleeding in the small blood vessels in your skin, joints, intestines and kidneys. Only the specialists at the Children’s could help treat the disorder. Everyone was super helpful and nice towards a very scared 11-year-old boy who wasn’t too sure what was going on. I will always remember my experience as a positive one. That, and also my wife is a large supporter of the event.

When I was a child (and a bit into my teens), I was extremely accident-prone, and often found myself in the emergency room at the Children’s Hospital for some kind of injury (the tech in the cast room and I were on a first-name basis). That said, at one point, I developed a rare nerve disorder (Sympathetic Reflex Dystrophy Syndrome [RSDS]), which is quite rare in adults, let alone almost non-existent in children. After a few return visits trying to figure out what was wrong, a doctor in the emergency recognized my symptoms, and was able to get me in contact with an entire team to diagnose and treat the disorder. Five block surgeries later, as well as having doctors from Malaysia assist my surgeries and being in a medical film and journal, I would not be where I am today (healed and functional) without the Montreal Children’s, as well as organizations, such as Kurling for Kids, who make donations to help advance medical research and treatment for sick kids.

In the days before cell phones, when my son Kevin was 27 months old, he got an infection in his eye that did not respond to oral antibiotics. He needed intravenous antibiotics. We brought him to the Montreal Children’s Hospital where he was placed in isolation and hooked up to an IV. His twin sisters were seven weeks old at the time, and being breastfed, so I wasn’t able to stay with the babies and him at the hospital. Every morning, for the four days Kevin had to stay in the hospital, he woke up crying. After doing all they could to try to console him, someone would call me so he could talk to me and be assured he was going to see me later. I then had time to bring the twins to my parent’s home and get to the hospital in time to have lunch with him. He would fall asleep in my arms knowing Daddy would be there later to have supper with him and put him to sleep. I am, to this day, grateful for the caring people who tried their best to console my frightened child. As an after thought, his eye is fine. We never did find out what caused the flare up and it never reoccurred.

I support Kurling for Kids because it is an organization that is 100% volunteer based. Funds raised go towards the purchase of equipment, allowing donors to know exactly where every penny is allocated. I believe in an organization like this because it’s made up of good people doing good things for sick children! Not to mention, it’s a fun event too!

I have had to bring both my daughters to both Sainte-Justine and the Montreal Children’s hospital on various occasions. The doctors and staff take great care of the children and treat them with compassion and understanding. They understand the parents too, and take the time to explain what’s going on and why it’s happening. I support Kurling for Kids because they support these two hospitals, purchasing much needed medical equipment for sick children AND because it’s an organization that is 100% volunteer based.

I got involved with Kurling for Kids in 2004. I was asked to participate in the K4K bonspiel at Glenmore Curling Club. It was such a great experience, that the next year, I became an organizer in St-Lambert. My reason for becoming a volunteer changed on August 27, 2016. Baby Jakob was born: first grandson to my youngest sister. He was born with Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia, a rare neurodegenerative disorder caused by genetic mutations. As it stands, there is no known cure. It was then I realized that by helping raise funds for children’s hospitals in Montreal, we can help the children who need it most. So now, every year, I dedicate my year to Baby Jakob, calling my fundraising efforts JAKOB’S JOURNEY.