Niverville’s Community Resource Centre (CRC) is getting one step closer to reality thanks to insurance giants HUB International and Wawanesa Insurance, and local business owners Ray and Cara Dowse. On Friday, February 1, representatives from the insurance companies lined up alongside Ray Dowse to present a combined cheque for $30,000 to CRC committee chairperson Clarence Braun.
“I have had the pleasure of working in the insurance industry for many years and was eager to come together with these organizations for this contribution,” Dowse says. “Community is something my wife Cara and I are passionate about, and the positive impact the CRC will have on Niverville and the surrounding region is significant. It’s a very exciting time for the community, and by working together exciting projects such as this can become a reality.”
The initiative was spearheaded by HUB International’s Niverville location, which ran a fundraising campaign alongside their grand opening. From May through October 2018, HUB promised a $25 CRC donation for every insurance quote made from the local branch.
On completion of the branch initiative, HUB’s corporate office made the decision to boost the total donation to $10,000, which was then matched by Wawanesa Insurance as well as by Ray and Cara Dowse, bringing the total donation to $30,000.
“We have a program called HUB Gives and it’s about giving back to the communities that [we are located in],” says Keith Jordan, president of HUB International Manitoba. “The community supports us and we want to support the community and that’s really what it’s all about. [The CRC] is a terrific project… I mean, look what it’s going to give back to the community.”
Vedran Hodzic works on the national business development team for Wawanesa Insurance.
“HUB occasionally reaches out to us when there’s these kinds of community initiatives,” says Hodzic. “We thought that it’s a great opportunity for us to take part in because we are a Manitoba-based company and we like to be involved in small communities and help out in these sorts of initiatives.”
Four years ago, when the vision for the CRC was first realized, a planning and fundraising committee was formed. The committee included community residents and business people along with members of town council and staff. Right out of the gate, council committed $5 million to the project.
Clarence Braun, co-chairperson of the committee, says the initial years required a lot of legwork—preparing a scientific study, visiting other cutting-edge community centres in Winnipeg and around the province, and surveying 300 residents to get a good cross-section of ideas for the new CRC. Since then, local builder Von Ast has been commissioned to create the preliminary drawings.
When the province made their surprise announcement to fund a new high school in Niverville, council set to work to see how these two initiatives could be combined into one mutually beneficial project. Town staff began applying for federal and provincial grants which, if awarded, could provide an additional $11 million in funding for the almost $20 million project.
Council and the CRC committee are hopeful that an announcement from both levels of government is forthcoming. At that point, the committee will dig their heels in on a fundraising campaign for the remaining $3.5 million. Braun is grateful to residents like the Dowses and corporations who are stepping forward in this financial leap of faith.
“This represents local, and HUB’s a new business in our community,” Braun says. “To see them come on board will be an encouragement to many others. We’re really excited about the immediacy of where we’re at right now. The way the town has approached this, the opportunity with the school has created something bigger than a school. From what I’ve heard, the concept of community centres [that] combine education and culture together in one big building has become something that’s important.”
Mayor Myron Dyck also weighed in on the recent $30,000 donation. “We’re excited about the imminent CRC project and today we have some individuals and some corporations that have stepped up to provide the donations [because] they believe in the project. We want to thank them for investing in our community.”
