Sandra Schmirler Foundation Marks 25 Curling Years

The Sandra Schmirler Foundation is celebrating its 25th birthday on Jan. 25. And if you call in to the Foundation’s telethon during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (on TSN) that day, you may find yourself talking to a curling legend. 

Among them will be longtime supporter Marilyn Bodogh, the two-time STOH champion skip whose passion for the Foundation shines through. 

Bodogh, who captured her titles in 1986 and 1996, shared her memories of the telethon over the years. 

“One time I had a caller come in for $20,000,” she recalled. “I stood up and I screamed. I said, ‘$20,000, oh my God!’ The caller was a lawyer representing a woman who just thought women’s curling was the best.”  

Small or large, every donation will go toward the Foundation’s goal of raising $1.25 million in this milestone year to fund lifesaving neonatal equipment, says Executive Director Darren McEwen. 

Sandra Schmirler was a Canadian curler and mother of two who won three Canadian and world women’s championships and skipped her Canadian team to a gold medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Schmirler passed away in 2000 at the age of 36, and her funeral was broadcast live across Canada just prior to the start of the men’s Brier championship. 

Her foundation is described on its website as working “to ensure all babies born too soon, too small, too sick, or too far in every province and territory will be cared for in a NICU equipped with state-of-the-art life-saving equipment close to their homes, family and friends.” 

Since it started in 2001, the Foundation has donated more than $10 million to hospitals across Canada, helping approximately 90,000 babies and families, says McEwen. This includes nearly $3 million directed back into communities that host Curling Canada events. 

At the Scotties in Mississauga, the Foundation will be joined by TSN staff to present a $70,000 grant to Trillium Health Partners Foundation for life-saving equipment for newborns at the Credit Valley Hospital. 

“TSN has broadcast this (telethon) since Day One and the crew, many of them worked with Sandra,” says McEwen. “They put the microphones on her before she went out to play. They filmed her, they knew who she was.” 

He adds that TSN’s support has been “monumental to our success with the telethon.”

McEwen says he is also grateful for Curling Canada’s support and commitment to the Foundation and the telethon. “They have been incredible. We’ve been able to do this at the Scotties every year.” 

As Bodogh says, “It’s become a tradition.” 

All the teams competing in this year’s Scotties have signed up to take calls during the telethon. Also scheduled to appear are Schmirler’s teammates Jan Betker, Joan McCusker, Marcia Gudereit and and Atina Ford Johnston, along with coach Anita Ford and national coach Lindsay Sparkes. 

Schmirler’s daughters Sara Miller and Jenna England are ambassadors for the Foundation and will also be on the phones, as will many other Canadian curling names including multiple STOH and Olympic champion Jennifer Jones, Canadian Seniors champ Sherry Middaugh and Vancouver 2010 Olympian Cori Morris.

Also volunteering to take calls is Cassandra de Groot, who played lead for Ontario’s Danielle Inglis at the Scotties in 2024 and 2025. 

“I grew up watching the Scotties and dreaming of sliding over the hearts one day,” says de Groot. “When we got the opportunity to compete at our first Scotties in Calgary, participating in the telethon, it was truly a core memory of that week. And I've always believed it's the deep-rooted traditions of the event, like the telethon, that make the Scotties so special.”

“There’s been 25 years of celebrating,” adds Bodogh. “It’s been 25 years of reaching another goal, 25 years of seeing our hard work come to fruition with our champions who start small…. I’m so proud to be there.” 

The Sandra Schmirler Foundation Telethon will air live on TSN throughout the Jan. 25 draws during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. 

You can donate by calling 1-866-210-6011 or contribute online at www.sandraschmirler.org.