Prince Albert’s Broda Group partners thanks generous Prince Albert residents for making Make-A-Wish Canada gala a success
Sheila Bautz
Special to the Herald
With a focus on volunteerism, the award honours individuals in communities that make a significant and substantial impact on life changing services for children with critical illnesses. Recipients are selected through their demonstrated commitment and contribution to granting children wishes.
“In celebration of National Volunteer Week, Make-A-Wish Saskatchewan is proud to announce Prince Albert’s Broda Group as this year’s Community Award recipient,” said Ashley Buck, Communications Specialist for British Columbia, Yukon and Saskatchewan for Make-A-Wish Canada.
Gord Broda and Rusty Clunie are partners at the Broda Group corporation. They are life-long Prince Albert and area community supporters focused on great causes that enhance children’s lives.
“Saskatchewan and Prince Albert are a generous community,” said Broda, Co-CEO of the Broda Group enterprise. “I certainly can say this, our companies worked across just about every corner of the Saskatchewan province and the Prince Albert people are very generous. The people in this province are very generous. So, we just continue to raise the bar and show what a strong and dynamic community we have to make a wish come true.”
The Broda Group moves the earth, literally. Headquartered in Prince Albert, the quarry operations are expanded across several provinces. The provinces include British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
“My wife and I moved up to Prince Albert more than thirty-one years ago,” Broda explained. “Rusty and I’ve been partners for thirty-one years, or so, and created a Prince Albert division of the company. We’ve been together ever since to grow the Prince Albert vision we had to what we are today. We have a long positive relationship.”
The two CEOs focus their corporation on key areas of infrastructure projects and road building in Saskatchewan. They’ve also given back locally.
Broda and Clunie’s corporation has been involved in numerous and various organizations over the years. Along with their families, they attended their first Make-A-Wish foundation event roughly a decade ago.
“Some of those very first banquets that were held, we were the flapper pie buyers. Both Rusty and I would spend like $5,000 each on a flapper pie,” said Broda, as he further explained the flapper pie purchases soon became their trademark.
Post COVID, the Make-A-Wish event required a fresh revamp due to the social changes introduced by the pandemic as a result. Together, Broda and Clunie, along with their corporation, assisted with collaborating on creative and innovative ideas for the event. Last year, this led to their contribution of hosting the important fundraiser to further show their support for critically ill children making wishes that need to be granted.
“The Make-A-Wish banquet was always a very good event,” said Broda. “We made a really good, strong connection with the Make-A-Wish Canada foundation. With the organization, over time, we continued the relationship. We got to meet some of the senior people and when they would visit, even from Toronto, they would come by and have a visit and a cup of coffee. As we have progressed (in) our relationship with them, the idea to come up with this larger grandiose event evolved, and I think we had to change it.”
In 2024, Broda and Clunie became the hosts of the Prince Albert third-party gala. The gala event raised $130,000, demonstrating the generosity of both Broda and Clunie, along with people of the Prince Albert community who contributed. Broda and Clunie also made a multi-year commitment to donate an additional $60,000 over a five-year period.
“Gord Broda and Rusty Clunie, partners at the Broda Group, have made a remarkable impact through their generosity and commitment to Make-A-Wish Canada,” said Buck.
Make-A-Wish Canada is in their 40th year of their agency to grant wishes made by children with critical illnesses. With family involvement, the children are able to experience the manifestation of their dreams come true. This provides a type of therapy that touches the soul and energy of both the critically ill children and their families.
“You’re dealing with some children that have some extreme challenges,” said Broda. “Some of them are faced with maybe not being with us for as long as some others are, are able to be around. To help make those children’s wishes come true, it’s amazing. Make-A-Wish do amazing work.”
Dr. Jeremy Friedman, Associate Paediatrician-in-Chief, Department of Paediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children states that “[Granting] The wish allows children and families, for a moment in time, to focus on something that isn’t about illness and despair, and instead on something magical, joyful and positive.”
As a result of wishes coming true due to the generosity of organizations and the public, critically ill patients are infused with renewed optimism and inner strength. The experience infuses an energy into the child to overcome their medical prognosis for debilitating diseases, acute illnesses and physically deteriorating conditions. Their family and medical staff also feel, and witness, the beneficial results from wishes being fulfilled for children with critical illnesses.
Make-A-Wish Canada reports that 87 per cent of children who have a wish fulfilled experience a crucial progressive turning point in their treatment. Ninety-one per cent of parents have reported that – by having their child’s wish come true – their child’s chances of surviving terminal illness and critical conditions increased. Medical providers and caretakers have also reported their observations. Ninety-five per cent state that critically ill children have a vast improvement in their overall emotional and physical well-being.
The Broda Group’s extensive dedication to supporting child focused organizations is evident. A great deal of their philanthropic initiatives over the years are driven by children and a crossover between children with health issues and health needs. This includes involvement in children and youth sports. Broda credits the collective power of Prince Albert’s generous spirit.
“The Make-A-Wish foundation, it is such a fantastic organization,” Broda said. “You know, this Prince Albert community is so strong and helps so many. We’ve got so many worthy and worthwhile causes in Prince Albert and somehow, we make it all work. Every one of those causes gets supported and right here in our hometown in Prince Albert. Of these organizations, you know, our event that we had last year, there were so many individuals that stood up and made the donation to support a Make-A-Wish for a child. That was just amazing,” said Broda.
The pledge and involvement with organizing the Make-A-Wish galas, made through the efforts of Broda and Clunie, will assist the foundation with life-changing genie duties.
“We are incredibly grateful for their selfless dedication—not only to the children we serve, but also to our mission of transforming lives, one wish at a time,” said Buck.
Granting wishes proves to provide an infusion of rejuvenating energy for children facing critical illnesses. With a high success rate, the children’s response to having their wildest dreams fulfilled has an overwhelming positive benefit.
