Heat for Heroes gives veterans club a warm feeling
What started as a routine quote for some much-needed repairs to the HVAC system at the Markham District Veterans Association (MDVA) at 7 Washington Street in Markham turned into an unusual community collaboration where local heating and air companies cooperated to donate an entire heating and air conditioning system to the club.
The project started with Kevin Brophy, a Markham native and military veteran who served in the Reserves and as a gunner in Afghanistan as part of Task Force 309. Brophy, a Hargrave Heating and Air Conditioning employee, took the club’s HVAC challenges to Hargrave owner Timothy Sakai to see what they could do.
Rather than offer a modest discount on the work, Hargrave decided it could do much better and, Sakai, noting his respect for Brophy and Brophy’s deep commitment to the veteran’s cause, began sourcing willing partners who would contribute to a project that would honour local veterans and give new life to the building that is an integral part of the Markham community. According to Sakai, the resulting Heat For Heroes initiative eventually amounted to an entirely new HVAC system and boiler installed, worth approximately $40,000, donated at no cost to the club.
The installation, currently underway, was capped off with a plaque presented by Hargrave and project partners McKeough Supply, Rideau Supply, Daikin and Prestige Trophy, to the club at a recent ceremony that also saw Hargrave receive a special certificate and formal thanks from the City of Markham, presented by Mayor Frank Scarpitti, along with Ward 6 Councillor Amanda Yeung Collucci, Ward 8 Councillor Isa Lee and Ward 4 Councillor Karen Rea, who is also a club member and in whose ward the club sits.
In addition, Hargrave has jumped on board to donate marketing and administrative support to the club.
MDVA was established in 1949 with the aim of perpetuating the friendships, associations, and memories of the veterans of the Armed Forces of Canada, Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, Allied Services, and Reserve Forces. However, membership is open to all who subscribe to the same values as the MDVA and are willing to further its aims and objectives. The halls at the club also serve as a hub for various community activities and groups that rent the halls.
Visit the club website at mdva.ca and Hargrave Heating & Air Conditioning at hargraveheating.com.
Main photo (L-R): Ward 6 Councillor Amanda Yeung Collucci, Nadine Varga- Hargrave Heating Director of Business, Kevin Brophy- Hargrave Heating, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, Tim Sakai – Hargrave owner, Ward 4 Councillor Karen Rea, Ward 8 Councillor Isa Lee.