Dufresne donates $500,000
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/11/2011 (5259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WINNIPEG — Mark Dufresne’s company is celebrating 25 years with its charity challenge.
Dufresne Furniture and Appliance is blowing out the candles to celebrate 25 years in business by launching a $1-million challenge to help dozens of charities — including two in Brandon.
Mark Dufresne, CEO of The Dufresne Group, said they will be giving $500,000 to 51 charities — 43 in Manitoba in total — for the challenge. The charities will raise funds to match the grants.
In Brandon, the Child and Family Services of Western Manitoba Foundation and Security Blanket Providers Inc., will benefit.
Dufresne noted they initially received 250 requests from charities before whittling it down.
“It has been quite a process, but it has been very rewarding.
“We’ve been very fortunate to do well and we wanted to give back. We felt we needed to give back to the communities that we do business in.”
Dufresne said each of the charities chosen fit their criteria of focusing on children, women and health programs.
The charities picked also include the Interval House of Ottawa, the Health Sciences Centre in Thunder Bay, Ont., and two in Dryden, Ont., and four in Kenora, Ont.
The grants range from $5,000 to $30,000.
Peter Manastyrsky, executive director of Manitoba Riding for the Disabled Association, which provides horseback-riding therapy for special-needs children, said its $10,000 grant “will give us a tremendous boost for the program.
“Without organizations such as Dufresne Furniture, we would not be able to operate. We rely on the community for their financial help to provide a unique program to the children. We are so honoured and excited to have been chosen.”
Stacey Grocholski, executive director of the Pediatric Oncology Family Centre of Manitoba, more commonly known as Ronald McDonald House, said her organization plans to use its $5,000 grant to cook meals once or twice a week for out-of-town families staying there while their kids are in hospital.
“It’s prepared by volunteers or community groups (that) come in and provide a home-cooked meal for the families,” Grocholski said.
“Families just love it. It’s one night they don’t have to cook a meal.”
Dufresne said while the million-dollar challenge is an extra charity event by the company to celebrate its anniversary this year, the company has its own foundation that helps charities such as Winnipeg Harvest and the Children’s Hospital Foundation annually.
» Winnipeg Free Press