Charitable brooms

Curling is part of the make-up of Northwestern Ontario.

Not surprisingly officials at the Children’s Centre Foundation have turned to the sport to help heal some of the region’s most vulnerable people, its youth. Kurl 4 Kidz, slated for April 1 at the Fort William Curling Club will help raise money to support children’s mental health, in particular a walk-in clinic that has cut wait times down exponentially.

Tom Walters, executive director of the Children’s Centre Thunder Bay, said with just two base increases in funding in the past two decades, organizations like his across the province have been forced to cut back on services year after year.

“Our wait lists were going through the roof,” he said. “We decided that we needed to have something that gave more immediate access to people. So with Thunder Bay Counseling we organized the walk-in counseling clinic in July 2007.

“It has just been a phenomenal success and it has really helped our clients and our children and parents give help when they need it. Otherwise they’re waiting as much as a year sometimes for longer term counseling. And you know, that just isn’t right.”

With plenty of competition for dollars in the community, Walters said they looked to something a little different to help raise much needed money.

The competition, open to women only, will pit teams in three-end mini-matches, a non-competitive environment that promises to be a day full of fun and laughter, Walters said.
The outcome is worth every penny, he added.

“The government is asking us to only work with high-risk kids. That’s what they want to fund for. But as a mental-health professional, I believe that early intervention and prevention is absolutely essential. So through events like this and other events the foundation runs, we have been able to actually do a lot in terms of prevention and public education and earlier access to help,” said Walters, adding they’re aiming at a series of smaller events, rather than one large one.

RBC Dominion Securities’ Shawn Kunnas, whose company in the major sponsor of the event, said there is an need for mental health services in the community, which is why they’re giving back to this particular cause.

“Currently in Ontario about one-in-five children who need treatment for mental health issues is getting it. This has to change,” Kunnas said.

The cost to enter the funspiel is $75 a person or $300 for a team of four. To enter, contact Stephanie Bateman at 343-5019.