Brad Hubbard, Kal-Tire

Brad Hubbard was googling local charities one day, looking for ways his business could help out the community.

Brad manages the Kal-Tire in Clareview. 

Kal-Tire has gotten involved in supporting local initiatives like donating clothes to the Bissell Centre, helping with car shows, or setting up a drive-in theater in Fort Saskatchewan to raise money for a food bank. 

“Kal-Tire takes pride in trying to help out the community,” Brad says. “There's a number of areas that we try to be involved with. If someone tries to reach out to us, we try to help out.”

That day, he then came across Free Play For Kids. 

“I went over [to Free Play], talked to someone, got some more information and thought it was a good opportunity for Kal-Tire to get involved.”

Brad played many sports growing up, including basketball, soccer, hockey, and golf. He understands the role sports can play in making sure kids have a way to spend their free time that is a positive outlet for their energy.

“As a younger kid, it kind of steered me the right path and made sure that I wasn't getting in trouble, you know, cause I was so busy with sports and I really enjoyed it,” Brad explains.

He also knows what can happen if kids don’t have that positive environment that sport provides.

“I had a lot of friends that didn't play sports growing up where I was,” he says “because they weren't able to afford it. Because of that, they found themselves in trouble because they weren't kept busy. So it helps steer you in the right direction as far as being involved with other people, and you have your coaches that can help you, lead you, and be there for you as well.”

This was Kal-Tire’s first year sponsoring Free Play, and Brad already has a favourite moment from the relatively new partnership: The jersey inauguration where kids tried on their jerseys for the first time: Some of those jerseys being the ones marked with the Kal-Tire logo.

“Just seeing the excitement on their face,” Brad says. “That's pretty cool to see them excited about that.”

Having seen firsthand the positive impact Kal-Tire’ support for Free Play is having, Brad is eager to keep the sponsorship going well into the future. 

“We're happy that we can be involved with this foundation,” he says. 

“Hopefully that we can make it more of a yearly thing where we can find ways to donate. I think it's important to do it consistently and be a part of it year round. Hopefully we can continue to build a relationship with Free Play!”

Written by Stefan Salegio