On November 22^nd, representatives from 12 insurance brokerages in Durham Region, along with Intact Insurance, presented a cheque for $400,000 to Grandview Kids at the Oshawa General’s hockey game. Proceeds will help fund the construction of a new facility in Ajax – a huge capital development project to support a rapidly growing community. We spoke with Bryan Yetman, First Durham Insurance to find out how brokers rallied together to invest in their community’s future.

CONGRATS. HOW DID YOU CONVINCE INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES TO SUPPORT A SINGLE CAUSE?
Truthfully it was not that difficult. Initially I floated a hair brained idea to 3 or 4 brokers in town. I had a goal of raising $250,000–$500,000. Everyone I talked to committed on the spot. It was then that I realized the idea wasn’t as crazy as I thought. I approached Intact, one of the largest employers in Ajax, letting them know what we were up to and asking them to become involved if I could get 10 brokers on board.

A lot of the work was done within a 6-week time frame. By Thanksgiving I had made 19 calls and had 10 brokers on board. By the time the cheque presentation happened, we had 12 brokers, and it continues to grow. Most interesting to me is that it did not take a lot of convincing. While many knew of Grandview, it was not lost on me that brokers are grassroots people who support local initiatives, local buildings and local people – it comes naturally to us. Go into any local facility and take a look at the plaques on the wall. Who supports them? It’s almost always brokers and local service clubs. We are as grassroots as grassroots can be.

THIS INITIATIVE INSPIRED THE INDUSTRY TO GET INVOLVED. DO YOU EXPECT ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS?
Yes – the cheque presentation on Friday was for $400,000. But after everyone met and had an opportunity to visit the facility, brokers began to raise awareness on what we were doing and helped seek funds. Since the beginning of November we have received commitments of close to $100,000 from other carriers and brokers. I genuinely think we may grow this initiative to $600,000–$700,000. Insurers and brokers are realizing the value of this organization in our community.

WHEN INDUSTRY COMES TOGETHER, IS THERE A SPIN OFF BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY?
This is a huge capital investment for Durham Region – a $50M facility. Existing Grandview headquarters in Oshawa were built in 1983 to serve 400 children and youth with special needs. Presently the facility has a demand for 8,600 spaces with more than 2,600 on a wait list. This is an organization that changes lives, opening up education, independence and bright futures for children in Durham. For brokers I spoke with, the last thing they were concerned about was recognition. When you give like this, it’s not about getting the phone to ring for quotes; it’s an investment in your community. This is a tremendous donation, thus far unparalleled. It was the largest cheque presented at the Tribute Communities Center Ice (home of the Oshawa Generals). It has been broadly shared within various social medias circles and we hope local media will pick it up. We have started to hear from individuals in other industries who are inspired to consider collaborative giving in their industry. Grandview Kids has a $2.5M gap to close. I am so proud of the leadership brokers have shown to help Grandview Kids realize their dream of a new facility.

ANY ADVICE?
As Durham region is so geographically large, in our release we directed media to connect with brokers in their distribution areas. We want the media to connect with the right contact in the right area, keeping the focus on the grassroots nature of the initiative. If you send a press release to Oshawa media, connect them with an Oshawa broker; if you send a press release to Uxbridge media, connect them with an Uxbridge broker (and so on).

FINAL THOUGHTS?
There are 21 children’s treatment centres similar to Grandview all over Ontario. Each has a huge wait list and major gaps in funding. Think about collaborative giving with your fellow brokers on a larger scale and consider the impact you can have by investing in your region’s youth. It’s amazing to see what happens when you make a few phone calls. Think bigger than 12 months. One reason I know we were successful was that we were able to give significantly, but absorb the flow of funds over a 5-year period. For most brokerages a $25,000 commitment seems daunting, but over 5 years, it’s extremely manageable. I bet there isn’t a broker in Ontario that has not given that much already.

Congratulations to Durham Brokers and Intact Insurance for your generosity and community spirit.

AJAX Bryson Insurance Russ Bastow Insurance Broker Ltd Jones-Dooley Insurance Brokers	PICKERING BST Insurance Broker Ltd First Durham Insurance & Financial Ltd
CLARINGTON James Insurance Broker Ltd	UXBRIDGE Ron Noble Insurance Ltd
OSHAWA DIS Financial Group W.B. White Insurance Ltd	WHITBY McDougall Insurance & Financial Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers Ltd Meadwell Mowatt & Fennell Insurance & Financial Ltd

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