The Martensville A&W restaurant has received national recognition for outstanding community involvement.
The Martensville A&W, owned by Rachelle, Bernice and Brian Buffin of Martensville, was presented with a ‘Community Champion’ award by A&W Canada representatives in late March.
The award is in recognition of the innovative ‘KidSport Playhouse’ project, which has raised a total of $43,580 for the Martensville and Warman KidSport charities over the past five years.
The project has directly helped hundreds of youngsters from low-income families participate in organized sports in the communities since it was launched in 2016.
There are about 1,000 A&W franchises in Canada, but only 12 are chosen annually to receive these awards.
“It’s a great honour,” said Rachelle Buffin during the virtual ceremony in which the Martensville A&W received the award. “Community involvement, and this project in particular, is something we hold very close to our hearts.”
The KidSport Playhouse project raises funds for the charity through the sale of raffle tickets. The prize is a 100-square foot fully-finished playhouse, built by high school students with materials donated by area businesses. The playhouse is displayed in front of the A&W beginning in April, with the raffle draw taking place later in the year.
In 2016, the raffle raised $10,580; in 2017 it generated $7,769; in 2018 a total of $13,173 was raised and in 2019, it raised $12,432. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the raffle from taking place in 2020.
In presenting the award, A&W Regional Manager Chris Hurley said the Community Champion Awards “recognize small acts of kindness as well as exceptional acts of service.”
Hurley said businesses make a difference in communities through collaboration, sponsorship, fundraising and other forms of community involvement.
“That’s what the Community Champion Award is all about,” he said.
A&W Canada Business Manager Milva Nieves said the Buffin family’s “passion and leadership” are an inspiration to others.
“You have made a difference for KidSport Saskatchewan and those families who can’t afford to enroll their kids in organized sports,” said Nieves.
Martensville KidSport Coordinator Angela Reddekopp said the Playhouse project is “by far the biggest fundraiser” for the charity. She said it’s rewarding to see the project sponsors receive recognition for their efforts.
Brian Buffin said the project began modestly as a vague idea in his head, but quickly took off once other sponsors came on board.
“One day, in 2015, Angela Reddekopp came into the restaurant with fundraising cans for KidSport,” said Brian Buffin. “I asked her to tell me what KidSport was all about. She sat down with me over a cup of coffee and explained that lots of single parents can’t afford to put their kids in sports.
“She said there is poverty in Martensville, and KidSport is about helping people.
“I said: ‘I never thought I would hear those two words in the same sentence – poverty and Martensville. I just don’t see it.’
“She said, ‘it’s there, Brian, and it’s real.’
“So I went back into the kitchen of our restaurant. There were three ladies working there. They all had kids, and I said, ‘has anybody here heard of KidSport?’ And they all put up their hands. They had all applied for help through KidSport. Then I said, ‘what was the result of your applications?’ They had all been denied because there wasn’t enough money in the KidSport fund.”
Brian Buffin said he went home that night and thought long and hard about a problem he’d never considered before.
“The next day I decided I had to do something,” he said. “I thought of the playhouse idea.
“So I went out to my car, said a little prayer, and then said to myself, ‘okay, here goes.’ I was pretty nervous.
“The first thing I needed was building materials, so I drove over to Martensville Building and Home Supply. I went in and asked to talk to the owner. He wasn’t in, but I explained my idea about the playhouse, saying 100 per cent of the proceeds would go directly to KidSport. I left my phone number and asked to have the owner call me.
“I got back in my car and hadn’t driven two blocks before my phone rang. It was Anthony Nienhuis. He said ‘I own Martensville Building and Home Supply. This is the most brilliant idea I’ve ever heard. I’m in. I’ll donate all the building materials.’
“That response just blew me away. The building materials alone would cost about $4,000.”
Buffin then approached David Fossum, the Industrial Arts (IA) teacher at Martensville High School (MHS), to see if senior students would be able to build the playhouse as part of their class credits. Fossum agreed to incorporate the project into his class, but specified that Brad’s Towing needed to be contracted to move the playhouse from the high school IA shop to the A&W parking lot to prevent any damage. Brad’s Towing owner Brad Stratychuck agreed to move the building at his own expense.
Buffin then drove to the office of the Clark’s Crossing Gazette in Warman, where he outlined his plan to the newspaper’s founder and publisher, Terry Jenson. The publisher agreed immediately to promote the project and donate signage and other materials, and the Martensville and District Lions Club stepped up to sell raffle tickets.
“It was pretty amazing,” said Buffin. “It all came together in a single day.”
The first playhouse was constructed by MHS students under Fossum’s supervision over the winter of 2015-16. It made a huge splash when it was unveiled in the spring of 2016, and raffle tickets continued to sell well in subsequent years.
But in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes to the project when the high school closed. The half-finished playhouse remained untouched in a forlorn corner of the IA shop, the raffle died a stillbirth, and the KidSport coffers quickly ran dry.
“It was pretty depressing and frustrating to see everything shut down so suddenly last year,” said Buffin. “Then I thought of a friend of mine who’s a really good carpenter, Marty Goertzen. I called him up and explained the situation and asked him if he would be willing to take over the project so we could have a raffle this year.
“He said, ‘I’ll definitely do it if you can get it over to my shop in my yard. I’ll have it ready this spring.’ He’s working on it during evenings and weekends.”
Realtor Richard Reimer of Martensville also signed on as a sponsor to the project this year in a big way. Reimer is covering all the costs of the project, including building materials.
“So that’s basically where the project is at now,” said Buffin. “We’re looking forward to having it delivered to our parking lot in a few weeks, and we’ll be selling raffle tickets so KidSport will have some money to work with this year.”
The KidSport Playhouse Project raffle draw will be made later this year.