The Brandt Group of Companies chose last week’s Saskatchewan Roughriders game as the venue to announce an unprecedented $2 million donation to the Saskatchewan branch of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). 

The presentation occurred during the first quarter with Brandt CEO Shaun Semple and Chairman Gavin Semple delivering the $2 million cheque to CNIB’s Vice President of Western Canada, Christall Beaudry, alongside John M. Rafferty, President and CEO of CNIB at the players’ tunnel.

“The work of CNIB is a game-changer for thousands of Canadians whose lives have been impacted by blindness,” says Shaun Semple, Brandt CEO. “Brandt is proud to offer tangible support for critical community programming through CNIB and its many initiatives.”

Brandt is a long-time supporter of key CNIB initiatives including its CNIB Guide Dogs program, and this donation will be used to further expand the organization’s operations across Saskatchewan. It will also kickstart the national Mobile Hub initiative that will ensure blind and partially sighted Canadians can benefit from a diverse range of programs, such as technology training, employment skills workshops, and recreational activities like adaptive yoga no matter where they live.

“Brandt has played a significant role for many years in the work of the CNIB,” says Christall Beaudry, Vice President, Western Canada at CNIB. “A donation of this magnitude will measurably increase our ability to deliver important services throughout Saskatchewan and across the country.”

The donation to CNIB is being made in conjunction with Brandt’s Thanks A Billion (TAB) philanthropic program. Over the past decade, the TAB program has distributed more than $24 million to disaster relief and community development initiatives in 250+ communities across Canada.

The Thursday night Riders-vs-Elks game was a particularly significant one for game-sponsor Brandt as the company had nearly 3500 employees in attendance. This included 3000+ out-of-town employees and their families from Brandt operations in Australia, New Zealand and coast-to-coast across Canada. The group is currently in Regina for a company leadership conference.