Skip to Equip Classic raises $160,000, over a million dollars raised in 13 years 

Tim Brody - Editor

The theme of this year’s 13th Annual Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Skip to Equip Classic was “If We Had A Million Dollars”. Thanks to the generosity of so many and the hard work of the Skip to Equip Committee, the event has now raised more than a million dollars over the 13 years the women’s fundraising curling bonspiel has run.
Needing to raise just over $90,000 this year to surpass a million dollars raised over 13 years, confetti flew and cries of joy filled the air during the event’s closing ceremonies when it was revealed this year’s event had raised $160,000.
Committee Chair Kelli-Dawn Baker shared, “When the cheque was revealed at $160,000, I had my glass of wine at the ready and I just about dropped it on the floor because of the emotion that I felt.”
Each year, funds raised through the event are donated to the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre Foundation to assist in keeping quality healthcare close to home, with funds raised going to the hospital’s equipment fund. 
This year and last year, priority for the funds raised through Skip to Equip has been given to the health centre’s MRI fund.
“We’re a committee of 12,” Baker explained. “Each committee member has their roles. We help each other get through our roles and we work tirelessly at what we do, but everybody’s passionate. Everybody has motivation to continue doing what we do. To see that number at $160,000, my heart is just swollen, I don’t know how to say it any more than that. I’m thrilled. I’m overjoyed. I’m almost speechless. It warms my heart to know we can go to somebody and say, you know what, we can do this, we’re going to get this MRI!”
Twenty women’s curling teams competed in this year’s event, which ran from Nov. 8 – 10 at the Sioux Lookout Golf and Curling Club.
Funds raised this year come from a combination of team registration fees, pledges collected by participants, a 50/50 raffle, a silent auction, a key contest and sponsorships from businesses and organizations.
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our sponsors, community, participants, committee members, pledgers, volunteers and to anyone who helped spread the word or assisted in this momentous achievement!” the Committee shared on the event’s Facebook page. 
Read more about the 13th Annual Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Skip to Equip Classic in next week’s edition.