■ Milestones
25
CIPH CELEBRATES
Strong partnership with Habitat for Humanity Canada continues to grow By Simon Blake
YEARS
WORKING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) and Habitat for Humanity Canada are celebrating a 25-year partnership that might be described as a “perfect marriage” – overused as that phrase may be. But in this case, it really is. “We have always looked at Habitat as a partner that fits so perfectly with our industry,” said Brent Cornelissen, president of OS&B, Oakville, Ont. and 2018-19 CIPH Charity Committee chair.
In 2015 Habitat and CIPH honoured Case de Jong by naming a street at a 13-unit CIPH sponsored townhouse complex in Burlington, Ont. Celebrating the occasion, from left, are Ken Webster (Viessmann), CIPH president Ralph Suppa, then CIPH chairman Siân Smith (Riptide), Case de Jong (Franke Kindred), Gail Kaufman (Wolseley), Paul McDonald (Bradford White) and Cliff Sargent (NCI).
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Plumbing & HVAC – May/June 2020
“It’s been a great partnership and one that has provided leadership to some of our other partnerships,” added Rob Voisin, senior vice president, operations, for Habitat for Humanity Canada, Toronto. The organization builds homes for Canadian families that would not otherwise be able to afford one. CIPH members have donated over $14 million in cash and products and CIPH has also sponsored 14 Habitat builds, one of which was a 13-unit townhouse complex. Case de Jong, long-time president of Franke Kindred Canada in Midland, Ont., spearheaded the relationship with Habitat in the early years. Elected to the CIPH board of directors in June 1993, he suggested that CIPH adopt Habitat for Humanity Canada as a national charity. “I’d watched a PBS documentary on Habitat and how it started in Manitoba around that time. It really inspired me. I thought, what a great thing they do because it’s a ‘hand up, not a hand-out,’ but, more importantly, I realized that these guys needed plumbing products. The board agreed on one condition; ‘if you want to do an industry-wide fundraiser, you get the job of chairing it.’ That was their way of welcoming a new member!” The group started in 1994 and held its first CIPH Habitat Gala in Support of Habitat for Humanity at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto on the eve of the CMX Show. It was
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