Families That Work Together…To Give Families A Hands-Up

Jan 25, 2021 - 4 years ago

FRONT PAGE STORY: This is the story of a diverse group of family-owned businesses coming together to assist families that they do not know…and possibly will never know…who are facing a time of need. By Ronald Mullins

Inland CharityDRIVE Team 2021 — The Inland Group delivered TEAM Construction Management’s new CASE TV450B Compact Track Loader

The world has left 2020 behind and launched into the year 2021 with renewed optimism.

The Covid-19 pandemic far surpassed any other international, national or local news story of this past year. It was a ‘no-contest’ event. Looking at the timeline, 2020 was a whirlwind of both loss and success. It was a year that none of us could have imagined, the heartbreaks, the cancelations, the lockdowns and the lockups, the curfews, the costs to governments, businesses and families, and too many lives cut short. There were successes… possibly the most significant one… anti-Covid-19 vaccines have been developed and are being distributed. There are bright rays-of-hope and optimism on the horizon. But it is in times like these that corporations and businesses, both large and small, pull together for the betterment of their respective communities.

Performance everywhere!. The Inland CharityDRIVE, TEAM Construction Management, August Luxury Motorcars performance team. L/R: Brent Marshall, Tanner Jones, Craig Behiel, Chad Gould, Chuck Cullen, Patrick Morgenthaler

This is the story of a diverse group of family-owned businesses coming together to assist families that they do not know…and possibly will never know…who are facing a time of need.

Ronald McDonald House

Every year thousands of children from both British Columbia and the Yukon are treated at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. These children and their parents, from centres both rural and urban, all with diverse backgrounds and vastly varied means, require a home away from home. In 1983, Ronald McDonald House British Columbia & Yukon (RMHBC) opened their doors and arms providing a refuge for many of these overwhelmed families who had traveled to Vancouver in search of life-saving medical treatment for their seriously ill child. But the demands placed on the 13 rooms of the original home soon had it bursting at all corners. In July of 2014, following years of planning and serious fundraising, the new 73 room Ronald McDonald House, located within easy walking distance to BC Children’s Hospital, was opened.

Ronald McDonald House Charities’ British Columbia & Yukon is a registered Canadian charity, administered by a local board of directors. The reason McDonald is in their name is because McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited were a major source of funds for the original home, and they along with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada are responsible for 25 to 30 percent of the home’s annual budget. Annually, hundreds of families are grateful and acknowledge the continued support of the Ronald McDonald House family. With annual budgets stretching into the millions of dollars, it can be said that it takes more than a village to help out a sick child and their family. Ronald McDonald House… families helping families.

Okanagan Dream Rally

Move ahead to 2015 and the August family, an Okanagan family with a rich and honoured history in both business and charity, a history that dates back over 75 years, established the August Family Foundation (augustfamilyfoundation.com) with the ambitious goal of raising $1,000,000 over five years for local charities and others in need. The August Family Foundation, under the direction and with the continued guidance of co-founders Matt August, Michelle August and Brian and Irene August, began small but has flourished with so many amazing events. However, none are as spectacular as the Okanagan Dream Rally.

The Okanagan Dream Rally is an exotic sports car rally dedicated to children and youth who are experiencing difficult challenges in their lives and with the purpose of creating unforgettable moments for all. Moments that will last a lifetime. Car owners and drivers, along with many of their families, come from across North America to the sunny Okanagan, bringing with them a wide variety of exotic and customized vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Each one of these owners and drivers arrive with the dual purpose of taking these children on the trip of a lifetime through the hills and dales of the Okanagan Valley. Then with the able assistance of a wide variety of corporate and individual sponsors, they raise large amounts of money for charity. In only four short years the Okanagan Dream Rally has been a huge success raising over $1,643,000 with over one million of those dollars being donated to Ronald McDonald House British Columbia & Yukon.

Shannon Kidd, Vice President of External Relations and Development for Ronald McDonald House was possibly even more excited than the car owners, drivers and children when asked about the Dream Rally. “The Okanagan Dream Rally is one of our favourite days of summer. Seeing the passion and commitment of Matt and the August family along with the hundreds of volunteers, sponsors and participants is something to behold for any car enthusiast, philanthropist or individual. The financial support and ambassadorship that Ronald McDonald House has benefited from has been incredible and has made an impact for thousands of families. More than 5,000 nights of accommodation for families, not only from the Okanagan but throughout B.C. and the Yukon have been funded by this fabulous event.”

Inland and CASE brought one of their skid steers and excitement to the ‘House’. L-R: Richard Pass - RMH BC&Y CEO, Brent Marshall - Marshall Group of Companies, Corey Tims - Inland Group, Matt August - August Family Foundation.

However, due to the aforementioned Covid-19 global pandemic, the Okanagan Dream Rally was sidelined in 2020. It had hit a speed bump and had to make an unscheduled pit stop. The result was hundreds of disappointed children and families, car owners and drivers and the loss of an estimated $1,000,000 that the August Family Foundation had ear-marked for charity with a large percentage of those dollars destined for Ronald McDonald House British Columbia & Yukon. It was like a huge, dark cloud of extreme disappointment had blinded the expectations of hundreds…even thousands. Had the ability of the Okanagan Dream Rally… families helping families… hit a serious Covid-19 road block?

Inland CharityDRIVE

The British Columbia based, family-owned, Inland Group, with locations across Western Canada and the Yukon as well as in the southern United States, is one of the oldest and largest Kenworth Truck dealers in the world. In addition, Inland is a premier provider of heavy construction and forestry equipment, including respected brands Case, Link-Belt and Tigercat, and together they saw the unprecedented need caused by the cancellation of the Okanagan Dream Rally and they wanted to make a difference.

Brent Marshall and Craig Behiel discuss the continued performance of V2R Construction’s CASE mini excavators.

The Inland Group had been a corporate sponsor of the 2019 Okanagan Dream Rally, so early in 2020 and with the Covid-19 pandemic still not under control, they gathered their people and suppliers together with the sole purpose being… what can we do to continue the charitable assistance to Ronald McDonald House British Columbia & Yukon. Under the able direction of Corey Timms, Inland’s Director of Construction Equipment Sales, and with the cooperation and guidance of Brent Marshall (www.omni.auto & www.v2r.ca) and Matt August (www.AugustFamilyFoundation.com), the Inland CharityDRIVE was birthed (www.inland-group.com/charitydrive).

Inland’s Tanner Jones and TEAM’s Chuck Cullen talk about the operator safety qualities of the CASE TV450B Compact Track Loader.

The next questions the Inland team needed answers to were What, When and Who? The What was simple…money had to be raised to support RMHBC…the loss of charitable dollars from the Covid-19 sidelined 2020 Okanagan Dream Rally was just too great. The When was easy as well…the only logical answer was…right now! Then it was Who?

TEAM Construction Management President Chad Gould in the driver’s seat and ready for some more performance… in a 2020 McLaren 720S Spider.

Inland is the dealer/distributor for Case Construction Equipment, and Corey was aware that Case had a very philanthropic heart so he reached out to them, and they came on board right away. The instant result was a charitable donation on behalf of the Inland Group and Case Construction Equipment of $10,000 to Ronald McDonald House, British Columbia & Yukon. The Inland CharityDRIVE was off to a full-throttle start and a number of families would be the beneficiaries of this largesse.

The V2R Construction Group has had outstanding performance and production from their CASE CX17C mini excavator.

When asked about the Inland CharityDRIVE, Shannon Kidd spoke on behalf of RMHBC and the many families they assist in a very humbled and grateful tone, “The Inland CharityDRIVE has meant so much to the House this year. We were facing a 30% loss of revenue in the first half of the year and the CharityDRIVE has been incredible in supporting the House and helping to minimize that gap. When the CharityDRIVE launched, Corey brought a Case compact track loader here to the House – families loved it. The support from Inland and Case, along with their many partners and customers, means we can continue to support hundreds of families this year and beyond.”

Team Construction Management was honoured to be selected to build JoeAnna’s House for the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation.

Reached at his Calgary, Alberta office, Marc Gamelin, Western Canada Sales Manager for Case Construction Equipment, was quick to point out, “With Covid and the current social restrictions set to be in place for the next several months, our youth and their families are suffering. Kids need to be kids, and when you couple our current situation with sickness, it’s a double-edge sword. These families need support to help them get through the toughest fight of their lives and Case is honoured to help do that.” Marc continued, “Case is proud to be partnering with Inland in this initiative to help support Ronald McDonald House Charities. We are working together to donate $250 from every Case skid steer or compact track loader sold as well as giving a Case SV185B Skid Steer, valued at over $75,000, to the 2021 Okanagan Dream Rally Auction, where 100% of the proceeds will go to the Inland CharityDRIVE and through them to Ronald McDonald House.”

Although it was evident that the 2020/2021 Inland CharityDRIVE was off to a roaring start, how could it be sustained and how to involve others? Corey convened another meeting with Brent and Matt. The result… anyone who makes a donation to the Inland CharityDRIVE or makes a purchase of Case Construction Equipment, regardless of the dollar value, will be eligible to win their choice of one of two Super Car Experience prizes. Option One: A Supercar Track Day at the Okanagan’s spectacular Area27 Motorsports Park. The Inland CharityDRIVE has teamed up with the amazing folks at Area27 to make the winner’s race car fantasy a reality. White-knuckle fun for the lucky winner and a partner lies ahead at their private track day, with professional driving instruction and supercars provided by August Luxury Motorcars and Omni Auto. It’s the priceless, pulse-pounding adventure you’ve always dreamed of! Option Two: An Okanagan Supercar Wine Tour. A first-class Okanagan Valley wine tour for the lucky winner and a partner. Together they will experience the wide open road, the thrill of driving two luxury supercars, private winery tours and tastings with distinguished winery owners. It’s the perfect trip for those with both a sophisticated palette and a need for speed.

Customers Team Up

Even as the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic continues, Inland along with Case Construction Equipment are excited about the overwhelming positive response from their customer base, both existing and new. One of the first companies to get involved with the Inland CharityDRIVE was Kelowna, B.C.-based TEAM Construction Management (www.teamconstruction.ca). TEAM Construction Management was founded in the mid-1960’s by the Wilson family and has slowly grown to be one of Western Canada’s premier construction management companies. Today TEAM is under the ownership and guidance of Chad Gould, President and Operations Manager with the able assistance of Project Manager Charles ‘Chuck’ Cullen.

“Our company has always been very involved with various philanthropic ventures.” Chad Gould stated, “Our founder Gordon Wilson was very much involved with the Salvation Army and their continuing efforts to assist individuals and families in need. As a company we have managed a number of projects for them and have always donated back our fees as a minimum and our team members are busy collecting toys and ringing-the-bell for them each Christmas. Our company is also very closely aligned with the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation here in town, and we had the honour and responsibility to build JoeAnna’s House for them and then donating back all fees we would normally charge.” (www.joeannashouse.com) JoeAnna’s House opened in 2019 and is similar to Ronald McDonald House in that they provide accommodation for out-of-town families with loved ones who are receiving care at Kelowna General Hospital.”

Chad continued, “We were in the market for a new compact track loader to replace one of our ‘showing its age’ skid steers. Our company had been involved as a sponsor with the Okanagan Dream Rally and we had been introduced to the Inland team at the 2019 event. So when my friend Brent Marshall told me what Inland and Case were doing with the Inland CharityDRIVE, it made our decision so much easier and in January we took delivery of a brand new Case TV450B Compact Track Loader. It’s got all the bells and whistles and Chuck and our operators love it…it’s doing a great job for us.”

Most importantly, through the combined efforts of companies like TEAM Construction Management and with the able assistance of Inland, Case Construction Equipment and Ronald McDonald House more British Columbia and Yukon families are being given a hands-up.

No Purchase Necessary

Should you or your company be in the market for new construction equipment, the Inland Group and Case Construction Equipment will be very appreciative of your consideration. However, if you are not in the market for construction equipment, but are solely interested in helping families in need, have they got a deal for you. If you would like an opportunity to have your name placed in the hat to be eligible to win one of the two Inland CharityDRIVE Super Car Experience prizes simple go to www.inland-group.com/charitydrive and click on the DONATE NOW button…make a donation and you and your family will be giving families you may never know a hands-up in a time-of-need. It could be you racing around the track at Area27 or sipping tasty Okanagan wine in the summer sunshine just because you chose to become a participant in the Inland CharityDRIVE.

Speaking of performance. The 2020 McLaren 720S Spider is at the top of the performance car list.
See August Luxury Motorcars for details.

Shannon Kidd, Vice President of External Relations and Development for Ronald McDonald House, British Columbia and Yukon summed it up very succinctly, “We have had the pleasure of many conversations with Brent, Matt and Corey and what is common to all of them is their genuine desire to create impact and a natural tendency to support charitable causes as part of how they do business. These individuals and the families and companies they represent are the kind of partners that every business wants to work with and every charity hopes to have. Its companies, individuals and families helping families.”

Ronald Mullins is a Kelowna, B.C. based writer / photographer and is a regular contributor to Supply Post.