Members of the Vankleek Hill Curling Club and the community have once again stepped up to help out the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation during February’s Heart Month – despite being unable to hold an actual fundraising event.

Curling club members Pitt Paquette and Bruce McNaughton presented a donation of $8,450 on Monday, February 28, to the foundation’s Executive Director Lianne Laing. The amount marked a significant milestone for the club, which has donated more than $100,000 over the past seven years to the Heart Institute Foundation.

The total raised is particularly amazing, because the Vankleek Hill Curling Club generally holds a large bonspiel during February’s Heart Month in order to raise funds. All fundraising over the past two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began has been done without the club being able to host the bonspiel – or any other type of fundraising event at all.

“This all comes from the members and the community,” Paquette said, adding most of the money came from a donation drop box located at the curling club’s building on Bond Street. “We had the drop box outside and people just came and dropped the money in there. It’s really, really awesome.”

The Heart Institute Foundation’s executive director said the amount donated was needed more than ever in 2022, as the foundation itself has had to change gears during the pandemic in order to raise funds. The fact that the Vankleek Hill Curling Club was able to raise such a large donation showed a great deal of perseverance and dedication to supporting the research done by the Heart Institute.

“Prior to the pandemic February Heart Month was getting about 90 to 100 third-party fundraising events – there were a lot of bonspiels and bake sales and school drives,” Liang explained, noting the foundation has had to find other ways to raise funds with all of those events shut down. “What’s really wonderful about the Vankleek Hill Curling Club is that they continued and despite not having the (bonspiel), it was important for the community to support (the Heart Institute).”

“It is things like this that make it special. This is perfect.”