A Coffee with Janna Tominuk, Chief Executive Officer at Sport Central

Join us for a coffee and chat with Janna Tominuk, the Chief Executive Officer at Sport Central!

Janna grew up in Peace River, Alberta, in a sport-loving household where being active was a way of life. This early passion led her to pursue a Sports Administration degree, starting at Grande Prairie Regional College before transferring to the University of Alberta. While her career would later take her across the province to work in cities like Grande Prairie and Lloydminster, her deep love for the Edmonton community eventually brought her back to the city she calls home.

Janna’s career is a masterclass in sports event management. Her journey has taken her all over the province and across some of Canada's most iconic sporting events. She has worked on the 1995 Canada Winter Games, the 2010 Grey Cup, the wild and fast-paced Red Bull Crashed Ice, and spent 13 years with the Canadian Curling Association managing Briers, World Championships, and Olympic Trials.

Today, Janna is channeling that lifetime of sports expertise into her role as CEO of Sport Central. Originally founded by Tiger Goldstick in 1991, this incredible organization is gearing up to celebrate its 35th anniversary this December! Sport Central collects, repairs, refurbishes, and redistributes gently used sports equipment to children facing financial hardships, offering gear for over 20 different sports.

Janna shares details about their recent, massive move to a brand-new, consolidated warehouse—stepping up from a scattered setup of four buildings and 20 sea cans into a streamlined facility designed to outfit more kids than ever before. She also highlights the absolutely incredible wave of community support they received to make this massive move possible, proving once again how local businesses and volunteers step up when it matters most.

If you have old sports equipment collecting dust in your garage, listen in to find out how you can support this incredible cause through one of their 50+ drop-off locations across Edmonton! Check them out at the links below!

EQUIPMENT DONATION LOCATIONS – Sport Central

Sport Central – Changing Lives Through Sport

Let us know your thoughts in the comments and leave us a review!

Follow Coffee in the Park with Jennifer and Cam on our social medias

Instagram: https://instagram.com/coffeeintheparkwithjenandcam

Website: https://www.coffeeinthepark.com 

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@coffeeintheparkwithjenandcam?si=8Fvb8swofNc1s_GL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-in-the-park-podcast/ 

Transcript

0:01

Hi, I'm Janna Tominuk and you are listening to Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to another edition of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. And, hi, Jennifer. Well, hello, Cam. I was going to say, and we are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. And you know what? Today, it is beautiful. It's a glorious sunny day in downtown Acheson today. I think because we start every podcast, we always tell the listeners what the weather is like. You know, I feel like a farmer. Well, you are. You grew up on a farm, so you kind of are. But I think now they want to know. I think if we didn't say anything, they'd be like, what's the weather like? I know. And today is nice. It's sunny outside. It's beautiful. It's kind of warm. It's not like super, super warm. No, after a week of monsoon type rain. Man, the animals were walking in twos and they were heading to the ark. That's how much rain we have. My grass looks amazing. I know, mine too. Right? I was saying last night, my grass looks incredible. I know. So, there's good out of it. There is. It comes. Anyways, welcome everybody to another edition. Like we said, we are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters. So, because we're live, if you hear some noises in the background, like coffee machines whirring, people talking, kids screaming. No children today. So, yeah, it's actually a little quiet in here this morning, but it's okay. It might get busy as we get going. Oh, it usually will. It's because we're coming to you live from the coffee shop. That's right. And we're enjoying some new summer beverages from the coffee shop. Do you remember what you're drinking? It's a nitro iced tea of some sort. Pineapple mint, I believe. Pineapple mint. Nitro. I don't know what the nitro means, ask them, other than it has a little foam on there. It looked like a beer actually when they brought it to me. I was like, hey, okay. But it's a little early. But nonetheless, so yeah, no, it's really good. I really enjoy it. Well that's good. And we want to tell everybody that Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam is brought to you by... Wing Snob Canada, where the wings are fresh, never frozen. Fresh, never frozen. With 16 different flavors, four different rubs. 16! That's right. 16 different flavors. That's a lot of flavors. That's a lot of flavors. I've decided I'm going to make it my mission to try every flavor. I've already tried a number, but I want to do all 16. Listen, Mike Chadi's golfing in our upcoming golf tournament. He is. I'm excited to see him. I don't think he's bringing wings. Do you think he's bringing wings? Maybe we can ask him. That'll be interesting, eh? As Mike goes around the course, opens his golf bag, pulls out a wing, that'll be kind of cool. So anyway, we'll ask him, are you bringing wings? That's right. Actually, truth is, I'm helping somebody do a fundraising event and I said, let's get Wing Snob to cater. Yes, they do cater. I know. So they're going to cater our event. I don't think our audience knows that they cater. And so they'll come and cater. We're having 125 people. We're having eight different flavors of wings, cornbread, fries, sliders, all kinds of stuff. I'm so excited about it. We're going to raise a bucket load of money just because the food is going to be so amazing. Yeah. So if you have never checked out a Wing Snob location, you need to do that. I'm going to suggest that if it's that season, if you're getting married and you're looking for caterers, no? Well, like why are you looking at me like that? Because I can just see the bride with her white dress and wings. Yes. No. Not weddings. That would be the kind of wedding I would love to go to where the food is wings from Wing Snob. I'd do it in a heartbeat. She could wear a bib or change and do something. Probably not. Yeah, no, I guess not. Obviously, this is why no one asks me to plan their wedding. Because I would have Wing Snob at the wedding. Anyway, ten locations, eight in the city of Edmonton, one in Calgary, one in Grande Prairie, and best wings you're ever going to have. And Jennifer wasn't lying when she said fresh, never frozen. So check out Wing Snob at www.wingsnob.ca and Cam, Grande Prairie. You know, I'm going to Fort McMurray for baseball this weekend. Too bad there's not a Wing Snob. Is that far from Grande Prairie? Yes. Like, could they skip the dishes to you in Fort McMurray? It would be $2,500 if I did that, I'm sure and probably wouldn't be warm by the time it got to Fort McMurray. That's not even with the tip. No. You'd have to tip the guy like 800 bucks for driving there. OK, I didn't know. So Mike, maybe you want to open in Fort McMurray. Yeah, because Jennifer goes there like once every three years. But I love Wing Snob. She'd love a Wing Snob there. Actually, Fort Mac would be, you're right, Fort Mac would be a great location. We'll talk to him about it on Friday. When we see him at the golf tournament. Anyways, yeah, lots going on, lots happening. Hey, anything new? I'm just asking. No, you're looking at me like, I don't know. It's a busy week. It is. We have lots going on. There's a lot going on. I am emceeing a golf tournament tomorrow. I was at two golf courses yesterday. You were at two golf courses yesterday. And then we're doing one on Friday. Ours on Friday. And so there's a lot going on. There's a lot happening. But then it quiets down for a little bit. Well sort of, not really. Not really. Anyway, I'm really excited about today's program. And so I think enough of us. And the reason we're here, why don't you introduce our guest today? Cam, I am also so excited for our guest today. This has been a long time coming. She's been a little busy with a move. Yes, she'll tell us about her move. She'll tell us about. It was a big move. It was. A big, big move. But you and I had the pleasure of touring her facility when it was in the old location. The old location. And we were so impressed and so excited that we knew we had to have her on this podcast. I know. And it just took a while. But now she's on. But this is exciting because now we get to go tour the new facility, which I'm very excited about. Exactly. So let's kick it off. Let's get it started. Our guest today is Janna Tominuk, who is the CEO of Sport Central here in Edmonton. Welcome, Janna. Good to have you. It's awesome. Glad you're here. This is cool. Yeah. Let's kick it off. Janna, tell us where were you born? Are you from Edmonton originally? Are you a transplant from somewhere else? I am a Northern Alberta kid. Born and raised in Peace River. No. In the Peace. Interesting. Fun fact. I'm also the New Year's baby from 1970. Were you in the paper? I was. Really? In Peace River. Yes. I need to know, what did your mom get for delivering the New Year's baby? I still have some of the things. Different little lamps and cutlery with our name engraved. All the local businesses gave different things. Cool. Diapers, all kinds of stuff. That was kind of fun. That's a big thing.

What my mom reminds me of though is she missed dinner because I was born at about 5: 6:47

30 PM. Well, I got our picture in the paper and everything but. Well, yeah, no, dinner is important. In my household growing up, we had a picture of the Peace Bridge in my house. I was born in Grande Prairie. So unlike Grande Prairie being far from Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie is Peace River country. That's what it is. We had a picture of the Peace Bridge. It's really cool. Yeah. It's awesome. Peace River is absolutely beautiful. Yeah. In the valley. Great country. I loved growing up in a small town. The freedom we had and the fun that we had was absolutely amazing. Lots of great, great memories. So what did your parents do? Why were you in Peace River? Were they like, was it agriculture? Was it something else? My dad actually worked for Alberta Power. He was in communications division and my mom worked for AGT, which later became TELUS. TELUS, AGT. So just both career employees, 30 plus years and those times people stayed a long time and worked in those jobs. But my parents were both huge into sports, both great athletes themselves and I grew up with a rink in my backyard and across from us was a tennis court and a baseball diamond and we lived in Lower West Peace, which was a bit of a park area and rode motorbikes and skidoos. Did you like living in a small town? Loved it. Did you want to get out of a small town or did you just like it? Well, later. I think everybody looks to get out. So when I was looking to further my education, I actually took, I have a Phys Ed degree in Sports Administration. So I started that at Grande Prairie Regional College and wow, I was recently back to Grande Prairie and what used to be on that west side was just the college and now- Hasn't it exploded? Yeah, it just looks so different. So spent a couple of years at college in Grande Prairie and then transferred out to U of A to finish the degree which you needed to and back in that time. Go Bears, go Pandas. Yup, and then I just, you know, I loved Edmonton. And Edmonton was really the right size city for me. And Edmonton feels like a small town to me. It sort of has that handshake deal still and that casualness to it. Oh yeah, I think for a long time, that's how Edmonton was looked at. It was just a smaller center and it was a great place. A lot of people coming in from centers, but it was still that small town feel. I don't know about so much anymore, but yeah. I feel like I've had the best of both worlds. You know I got to grow up... How many kids in your graduating class in Peace River? 63. 63 kids. Wow. Not big. Not big. You knew them all. Every one of them. Yeah. Yes. Wow. That's incredible. Then to be able to come to the city and further that and still be, Peace River is a beautiful five-hour drive, so still to be able to go home and I have family both still in Peace River and Grande Prairie. You love being from Northern Alberta and a big part of what we do at Sport Central is serve Northern Alberta, so I love that I know Northern Alberta. Maybe we're related. No, I doubt it because I was born in Grande Prairie, but probably not. Better do some DNA testing. We'll do some DNA testing. We'll do that. ancestry.com, here you come. I was just going to say we'll do the ancestry.com. I don't want to do that because I don't want to anyway. Anyway, okay. Janna, then you came to Edmonton. What was your first job when you came here? I worked at the Alberta Camping Association, which was in the Percy Page Center, because what I really wanted to do was get into the Percy Page Center because that's where all the Provincial Sport Organizations were housed. It was more on the recreational side, but I knew I just needed to get in that building. Alberta Camping was a great organization. It was all about accrediting and promoting all of our kids and youth camps around the province. That was a great start. I got in the building and sure enough, it did exactly what I had hoped. I got involved with the Alberta Games out of that, and that took me on a long path because I started volunteering at Alberta Games and then Opportunity came up with the Canada Games in Grande Prairie in 1995. And so I got to go, that was my first employed job with the Games. And so I got to go do that up in Grande Prairie and again, be close to family again and stuff, so Alberta Games is, it's like an Olympics for the province. And they have Canada Games. And they have both summer and winter, correct? Yeah, that's right. And what's the age range of that usually? They were usually in that like 12 to 18, 17 kind of range. Yeah, and every year it changes, different place. Correct it moves all over. Different town, different city all over Alberta. And then for the Canada Games, right? National obviously to be in Grande Prairie was pretty amazing. So I went there and did that. And then from there, I think if you're young and you're interested in moving and they need employees as they move, as you say. And so from there, I went to Lloydminster to do, I was then the general manager of the Games out there. And boy, I loved Lloydminster. What a great sports city. Saskatchewan or Alberta side Janna? You can't pick. I mean, it's called the border city for the reasons. Saskatchewan girl sitting right here. So you know, you know which side she's leaning on right there. So yeah, yeah. So you know, I spent 16 months there and you know, I was 27, 28 years old and boy, we worked hard and we played hard. Yeah. It was just a really great community. Loved it a lot. And then I, my sister actually reading the Sun newspaper. This would have been back in 1997. Sees this ad for the Briar that was in Edmonton in 1999. And she sent it to me and I threw my name in. And to my surprise, I was hired as the event manager for the 99 Briar and then stayed. Well, we better tell everybody what a Briar is because we got listeners all over. Fair. So it's our national curling championship. Yes. So all the provinces come to play and curling obviously very big in Canada. And the rivalry between the provinces and stuff. So who were the top curlers at that time? Randy Furby was in there. The Kevin Martins, the Jeff Stoutens, Glenn and Russ Howard, all of them. Now, if you're listening to us and you have no idea about curling, although I feel curling has made a huge resurgence. Worldwide, actually, it's not just a northern thing anymore. The Olympics has done wonders for curling. But curling is a big deal in Canada, and especially in Alberta. It's a really big deal. Well, right across Canada, it's huge. It's a big deal. 100%. And I think we are seeing a resurgence. Your son started curling. Yes, he started curling this year. That's right. I know. Pretty cool. Really, you look in every town and city and there's two things. There's an arena and there's a curling rink. That's right. So it's very accessible. It's a very affordable sport. And so my mom, even in her senior years, her and her friends all went curling. Like, and if she didn't curl, she watched because everybody was curling. That was a big deal. Yeah. It was huge. I remember going to watch my mom, right? The old corn broom going in and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. And like that's like, I love it. The corn, the broom. Let's go back to the corn brooms. They were, the noise they made. That's what I started with was the corn broom when I curled. The noise they made, like that sweeping sound on the ice. That was incredible. Yeah, so fantastic. It was awesome. We actually have a bunch of vintage equipment hanging in our new office, which you guys will see when you come. And we've got a couple of corn brooms in there because how can you not? You know, we should do that one day. We should have like an old retro game and get out corn brooms and go out and do it. That'd be just a hoot, man. That'd be a blast. Anyway, OK, so you're leading the Briar. You're putting that show on. That was a big deal. And you know, the great thing about curling, too, and many people will know and some not with the Briar Patches, which is a massive bar where everybody goes after the games. And what I really loved about the sport of curling is the players were very accessible. They were just sort of part of the crowd. And so, you know, there was a lot of access to the players and stuff, which is really neat. So then, you know, Edmonton had a great history of hosting events. We still, and I think never to be broken, hold many records. And so from the 99 Briar, we then held a world championship. We then held Olympic trials. And then we had another Briar. So I was, I did a stint with the Canadian Curling Association for 13 years. Of course, you know, volunteer committee that worked. I have lots of great friends still from the sport of curling. You know, everything in the, it was all at the old building, the Coliseum and the old Northlands grounds, and the halls. And you know, the other thing about curling, I just remember they used to wear those really nice sweaters, those curling sweaters. No, they did. Now they wear jerseys, which is fine. That's all cool. Well for their sponsors, yeah. But they used to wear those really nice curling sweaters. And the patches all over them. And the patches all over them. I know, I like that. I want one. Anyway, that was cool. So I had a good majority of my career was in sport event management. And when I left Curling, I then did the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton, which we had obviously all the festivities at Commonwealth Stadium. But then we had a whole downtown festival. So put that on. And then I was really at the point, I had spent 22 years in sport event management and it was amazing and I would never change it. But it was pretty hard on your life. You would start something and it was like, you have 18 months to pull this off. Long hours. And so it was just kind of a little bit about getting grounded. And while I was finishing Grey Cup, somebody had said to me that there's this posting at Edmonton Tourism and you should look at this. Okay. And part of the job posting was event attraction. So bringing events to Edmonton. So I threw my name in there and again was fortunate to get the job. And so between event attraction, meetings and conventions, it was all about bringing visitors to Edmonton and extending their stay. One of the highlights for me during that was we brought in Red Bull Crashed Ice. I was going to say, were you part of Crashed Ice? Yeah. Yeah. And so, I mean, that event. That was huge. Right across Canada, everybody knew about that. That was a big deal. It was amazing. And one of my favorite memories is when that ended that evening, you can imagine all those people trying to come out of the convention center there. And I was walking behind a group of guys and they were just, I love my city. And they were just so excited and happy. And, you know, you really understand how important events are, that they bring people together and that they give people these long lasting memories and stuff. And even with Curling and the Briars and stuff, I mean, there's people that travel to every one of them and across the country. And I just think sport, you know, brings people together. Well, and Edmonton has an amazing reputation. And hearing you talk now, I realize you were part of it. But has an amazing reputation of being a leader in sports events, sporting events. And in so many different sports. Right, from rodeo with the CFR. Oh, huge rodeo, curling, hockey. Curling and all the things we do. And we are this, we're the city of champions. And so we had a reputation. We weren't this big, huge Toronto or New York or Vancouver or any of that. We were Edmonton. But we were on the map. We were on the map. And you guys did amazing events. Well, and it's even like the Stanley Cup playoffs the last couple years. I live on Jasper Avenue on about 124th Street. And for about 45 minutes after every game, you hear honking and yelling. But I loved it. What fever, right? And you're out driving. And everybody's in their jerseys. And we're so fortunate here with the Elks and the Stingers and the Riverhawks and the Oil Kings. We live here, so I think we just know when we do it. But we really are so fortunate. Edmonton is a sports rich city. It really is. We really are. And good sports and quality sports. And so obviously people like you, you made that happen for us. That's fantastic. Well, part of a team for sure. And I even love all the grassroot stuff that we do, right? Like all the regional competitions and the provincials. And I remember as a kid, as a swimmer and coming from Peace River at 13 years old and being able to go swim at the Kinsman Pool. That was, you know, that was a big deal when you were a kid walking in from Peace River in that Kinsman Pool. The pool was amazing. It was, yeah. I swam competitively in high school for Ross Shep. And always the provincial finals were at the Kinsman. And it was like, you felt like you were walking. This is the Olympics. This is amazing. We were the Peace River porpoises. What were you guys? What were we? Because our, you were the thunderbirds, but thunderbirds don't swim. So I think we were still the thunderbirds, but it was a bit weird because, yeah, thunderbirds don't swim. But yeah, that's what we were. But I loved it. I loved it. I got up early, 6 AM every morning and went to Coronation Pool and we trained there and then traveled around. But Kinsman was awesome. That was still is still an amazing. They were the first ones I think in the city to have the platform diving. Yes. Really, really, really high one. And so after we had meets, we would dare each other go off and go off. And I was like, yeah, I don't know. That's high. But it was great. Yeah, it's fun. All right. So you're working for tourism, doing a great job. How long were you there? Yeah. I was there five years. Five years. Okay. Yeah. And then left there, I have my own company as well called Shifting Spaces, where I do downsizing, relocation and estate contents. Really? So I did that for a number of years full time. And then from there, I got approached to go work at a private company, known by the name of Jiffy Lube, which people would know. So there was a 100 stores in Western Canada that we had. And so I worked there on fleet program and various projects. We had a heavy duty car and truck wash up in Grande Prairie that I went up and did. That's quite the change, that is a change Janna. From sports to Jiffy Lube. It was. That's a complete dichotomy there. Yeah, exactly. How does that happen? You know, I feel super fortunate in my life that I just, I don't know, I just, I love talking to people and I have lots of curiosity. And so you just start doing things and being out there. And then all of a sudden, some of these things, you know, kind of fall on your lap. And so then when I finished there, there, you know, the Sport Central posting was up. And again, someone had sent it to me and I'm like, hey, you know, I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing and running my business and all that. And I'm like, okay, I'll throw my name in. And then, you know, once I got through the first interview, it's just like, oh my God, this is built for me. It's like the culmination of everything I've done through my, through my career. I was going to say, you got to stop throwing your name in the hat everywhere because like they want you. They hire you. Like, you're there. That's pretty incredible. Yeah, I feel very, you know, just lucky of the things that I've done. And just, I mean, you meet so many great people, including the two of you, right? I mean, it was through an introduction of how we met. And here we are. Like, it's just, it's how the world spins. And I love it. Right. So, Sports Central. Tell us about it. So, in December, we will be 35 years. Really? So, since 1991 of collecting gently used sports equipment, we repair, refurbish it, and redistribute it to kids and families facing financial hardship. Okay, folks, this is amazing. Absolutely. And we've seen it. So, it's amazing. So, I love the word you use, gently used sports equipment. People donate it to you, they bring it to you, and you have a whole team and you refurbish it. And that's cool. That is cool. We've seen that. That is really cool. And the best part, it goes to families at no cost. Yeah. Correct. 100% free. So, tell us about that. So, obviously, it started for a purpose because there was a need. Let's talk about that for a second. You know, it was Tiger Goldstick way back when. Tiger Goldstick, yes. Seeing kids in the neighborhood that, you know, didn't, they didn't have equipment, they couldn't play, and really started out of the trunk of his car. Right. And so from there, it just, you know, more and more Edmontonians jumped on board, and more people could influence the program. And so on it went. And then I was not obviously an Edmontonian, but Highland Sports was the one on Wayne Gretzky Drive and 118th Avenue where that was. And so through, you know, many founding partners, lots of people would know the name Wilf Brooks, who was the owner of United Cycle, Wilf Brooks and a lot of people then acquired that building and started things there. And so that there was actually somewhere to house the equipment and they were getting more and more equipment. So they needed a place to deal with it. For a long time, it was all volunteer driven. In 2008, across the road, we acquired another building, which then became our bike shop. And so, it's just everybody has gently used sports equipment sitting in their house. And so, it's literally just getting, that's all we want is to get that equipment that is unused in people's homes. Edmonton and area, we have 51 drop off locations. So we're trying to make it really easy for people depending on where you work or live, is just get that equipment to us. I want to go back to something because you triggered a memory for me, which is incredible, and that's Tiger Goldstick. So Tiger Goldstick was a famous, famous sports announcer here in the city of Edmonton. Like really, he had a great voice. He looked, he looked, he, people used to say he had the face for radio, not for TV, but he was on TV, he was fantastic. And I didn't know that he started this. And I think that's amazing and fantastic. And so, the history of it to me is incredible that way back then, somebody would recognize there's a need for this. And there are kids who just can't play sports because they can't afford it. There's a lot. And sports, you know, and Janna, you can attest to this too, from when you grew up playing sports and when I grew up playing sports, and Cam, when you grew up playing sports, to now, the cost is astronomical. It really is. Well, you know, quite honestly, it's getting to the point where we even have middle class families that are having difficulties. Absolutely. You know, it's you're deciding between insurance or groceries or putting your kid in soccer. Agreed. Like, you know, we all know the social, physical, mental benefits of sport, but it's so much more than that. And just giving these kids opportunity. And it's, you know, we offer things for competitive sports, and we also offer things for recreational purposes. We have a massive bike program. Your bike program is incredible. Like, I've never seen so many bikes, it's unbelieveable. Last year, we gave out 2856 bikes. 2856 bikes. All of those goes out with a helmet and a bell, of course. And so again, those are all donated bikes that we take and repair and refurbish in the bike shop and get them roadworthy again. And so much of the equipment is like, it's equipment in great shape. We, you know, hockey gloves, the shell of the hockey glove is great. And one palm is blown out. We actually buy the palms and in our equipment repair shop, they just sew the palm in. Folks, you got to see it. It's pretty incredible. We haven't been in the new warehouse, but in the old one and the way you had it set up. But it was packed. Packed with gloves and helmets and shoulder pads and all kinds of stuff. And then you saw the work benches where the guys would do all the stuff and would like, and these guys were amazing. They made them like brand new. You know what, Janna, you must have some really long term committed volunteers to come in and do some of this for you. We do. We just actually had our volunteer recognition event in February and I had the pleasure of awarding two 15 year service awards. Wow, that's incredible. You know, Sport Central is a place and we laugh is once you get in, you don't get out because your heart melts and you just want to do everything that you can. We have some, we have 93 volunteers right now. And some of those are, those people are in a couple of days a week. We have everything from equipment sorters to people driving our van to go collect the equipment, to doing our data entry, you name it. And I love that it's a community there. Everybody stops at 1030 and goes and has coffee break. And I love seeing, you know, lots of our retired volunteers will be sitting there with our summer students that are 17, 18 years old. And it's just really a great community there. It's a community. And nobody's looking for any credit. Just everybody's doing things for the right reason. Just doing it from their heart. Okay, you said earlier you had, was it 20 sports? We do. Okay, pop quiz. 20 sports. Bicycles, badminton, baseball, softball, basketball, cross country skiing, figure skating, football, golf, hockey, all disciplines, lacrosse, leisure sports like skateboards, scooters, ringette, rollerblades, roller skates, rugby, snowboarding, soccer, tennis, volleyball. How did I do? Come on, that's it, right there. Skateboarding, that's the best. You know, and lots of people, you know, especially when we had a lot of people arriving from the Ukraine and newcomers, they're not people that are gonna go join some league or get into things. So if we can get them, you know, riding a bike or on a scooter, one of my favorite stories is, is we gave out some badminton equipment to a family and the young girl ended up playing across the fence with her neighbor and they did not speak the same language. Right, right. But they were playing badminton together. And from there, you know, a friendship is gonna grow. But the fact that they couldn't communicate, but they were playing. What a great story. No kidding. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Like that stuff like that. And again, we all remember when we were kids and some of us, we had, you know, bikes and all kinds of stuff and we would do that. But there are kids that just don't have that. And their families can't afford it or get the means to afford it. And when I hear stories like you just told, that tells me it's not just putting your kids in hockey or putting them in soccer, although those are good things, but it's like badminton across the fence. I know, across the fence. Yeah. That's amazing. Or just even the fact that you, you know, rode your bike to the park and a few kids were playing soccer. And now you were started to play soccer with them. And you're, you've started to make some friends, right? And it really is about inclusion. We were talking earlier about bikes and we had our bikes and we rode our bikes everywhere. And if you were a kid that didn't have a bike, you kind of got left out a little bit. I know in my neighborhood and we didn't mean to, it's just we all had our bikes and that's what we did. We rode bikes. And that's, that is our whole thing is we don't want any kid left on the sideline because they don't have equipment. That's phenomenal. One of the other things that I absolutely love that we do is we have an exchange program. Clearly kids grow. Yes. And so, you know, what fits you in October does not fit you in March. And so all they do is bring that equipment back and we, you know, we upgrade the size. So we stay with them for as long as we need to on their journey. And you know, interestingly enough, we've had a lot of, you know, Sport Central kids, as we call them, that later come back and volunteer or become a partner with us because they were affected. And you know, we're in the midst of obviously soccer right now. FIFA World Cup, big time. We gave Alfonso Davies his first bite. Is that right? Come on. So again, you know, it got him around and hope to think that that got him to the park and where maybe some of his stuff started. But you just. Okay, that just is incredible. And I've had the privilege of meeting Alfonso Davies and being with him at a hockey game and stuff. And his story is just phenomenal, excuse me, to me. It's just a phenomenal story. But I had no idea that you guys were part of that. And all it says to us all right is kids just need a chance. And we, you know, we serve Edmonton and area, but we also serve from right here to the northern Alberta through community outreach, which is bulk shipments. And so there's people who can't get to us for whatever reason. And so we're able to, you know, work with them and determine what is best for their communities. And then ship that equipment to them. So there's lots of remote places. That's so cool. That, you know, and just to put it in context, because we distributed 49,011 pieces of equipment last year. 49,000 and 11. That's incredible. Like, so, you know, when people really think about that, that you're handling all that equipment and it's... Yeah, so hence, okay, let's talk about it. Hence, the need for a new warehouse. And you guys needed that for a long time. We were in your old one and it was, it was jam-packed, like jam-packed. Yeah, so we ended up with, you know, the two buildings I talked about, and then we ended up getting another warehouse temporary in the west side of Edmonton. And then we had a partner who was lending us some space in their warehouse. And then on top of that, we were in about 20 sea cans. So, you know, four locations and 20 sea cans. And it got to the point where we were dangerously close to capping the number of kids that we serve. And I mean, it really wasn't an option. So there was lots of work done by our team and the board to figure out, like, we know the number is never going down in terms of demand and how do we do this. So we went from a handful of years ago serving 8,000 kids, last year was 12,706. And we actually believe we're on a path within five years to serve 25,000 kids a year. And a lot of that we can do through our community outreach program, because you can do the bulk shipments and you know that there's people in the communities or schools that can take that and do that. So really it was two years in the making of talking about the building, doing all the research that we needed to do, all of our kind of financial assessment and talk to lots of people that had been kind of in similar boats and all that. Like it was a very calculated leap, I will say that. But you know, we got the advice if we're waiting for all the stars to align, it's not going to happen. And we wanted to stay ahead of this and not be reactive. So in August, we found our building. That was the 12th building that we looked at. And as soon as we walked in, I was with our director of operations and we were like, check, check, check. This is the one. So that everything got put into motion and the planning started. And so then we actually moved in March and opened our doors on April 20th. And Sport Central has been built by the community and continues to be. We had $360,000 of services donated in order for us to do that. So it was everything from the transportation of our move to flooring, to a kitchen island, to office furniture. Like unbelievable. See folks, that tells me you may not have money, but you might have something. But you know what? I want to say that when we talk about Edmonton, Edmonton just isn't a great sports community. It is a community that comes together to support things like this. And people are so willing to help. And if it's not financial contributions, it is that in-kind, what can we do to make it work? Yeah, if you don't know someone in Edmonton, it's a phone call away right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And like I say, you don't have money, but you might have something that you can give. And yeah, it's amazing. So you are a non-profit organization. Correct. So that's great in itself. People can donate and get a tax receipt for that, but help out. I think that's phenomenal. So you're in the new building now. Are you settled? Where is the new building? Tell us where it is. Yeah. So we are in the west end of Edmonton, on 103rd Avenue and 176th Street. It's 27,897 square feet. It just works perfect for us because our front end works for the clients that come in and get outfitted. We have our offices upstairs and then we actually have proper warehousing which is really what we needed as an organization. We've got pallet racking and forklifts and loading docks and all of those things. I mean the number one reason we moved was to serve more kids. But the operational efficiencies that we've gained, we've been able to put back into other parts of the organization. Well it's all part of it right, if you can be more efficient, you can serve more kids. I don't think people quite understand that. I mean you and I both worked in not-for-profits. I don't think people realize the importance of that operational efficiency. Sometimes it costs more to have that operational efficiency, but in the end, it's phenomenal. You can be far more effective. You're able to serve more. You're able to help more. You can do incredible stuff. All not-for-profits are tapped resource-wise, whether it's volunteers or staff or whatever. Gaining that operational efficiency was amazing. The other thing that it really lent itself to was to elevate the experience for the kids. In our old location, it was just a certain circumstance. When the kids came in and got outfitted, they were in an office or in our lobby. So here, we were able to actually build proper outfitting rooms. One is branded the Oilers and the other is branded the Elks. So they're actually like locker rooms. We have nameplates above the lockers. So when they come in, their last name is written on there. Because I think there's a little bit of perhaps shame when people come in and they're getting that. So we wanted that experience to be like, you know what, how did I get to come here? And the comments that we've got from the kids and the parents, and them all taking photos and all that kind of stuff, it really has made a significant difference for all of us. And just to see the kids and the parents, and we see that every single day, and parents hugging us, and the kid can't even wait to ride their bike. They're riding it in the parking lot now because we have room for them to ride it. And so the move has been absolutely game changing for us. And now we're just about, you know, how can we be more proactive to reach the kids that we need to? I think the amazing thing is the number of people in Edmonton, the sports celebrities, a lot of people who have gotten behind you and rallied behind you. And that always tells me that there's integrity because they're pretty careful about who they get involved with. They want to make sure it's integral. And I think you guys are the epitome of integrity in what you do. And I think that's phenomenal. Okay, so people can get involved. Well, first of all, let's talk about this. So if somebody, if a family needs something, what do they do? How do they connect? They can call or just hop on our website. And we make the process very easy for them to get to us. I will say the majority of kids come to us through different social service agencies because they're there for other services. So that could be... Is it drop in or do they need to make an appointment? They do need to make an appointment so we can prepare for them. Okay, so go to the website. But phone, website, our team in front is very helpful. Sometimes we're dealing with language barriers but we have lots of workarounds for that. We are about making their life easier and I think life is hard generally and I think these families deal with even more so it's just about how quickly and easily can we remove those barriers. Secondly, what if people have sports equipment and they think, like me, Jennifer has a kayak she wants to donate. It's a kid's kayak, it's like brand new. We're going to match that with one of our communities. Janna is going to take this. I know, I think it's amazing. I could sell it but I'd rather donate it. Okay, so what do they do? To donate, if again, just hop on our website, there's 51 donation locations around Edmonton. Honestly, we're in Leduc, we're in Spruce Grove, we're everywhere, Sherwood Park, lots of locations in Edmonton. We, lots of fire halls collect equipment for us, so their hours. You know, they're obviously always open, so people aren't rushing to try and get somewhere by five o'clock. But honestly, there will be somewhere near you that is easy to access. Lots of companies do equipment drives for us and then just call us and say, hey, we've got a cube truck full of equipment for you and it's our commodity and it's what we need. The word you used earlier was gently used, I like that. In other words, if your pit bull has ripped it apart, please don't donate it because you know what, then they have to spend money to get rid of it. Yeah, so gently used. Ten years or newer is kind of what we asked for. Like it's safety things, I mean, equipment changes and so you need to obviously have the right equipment. Okay, third, what if I want to volunteer? Again, call or visit our website and there's two things that we need. We need individual volunteers. Now, we are open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, so that limits some people, but other people that have availability in that time. Are you open on weekends? We are not. So Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, that's where we get a lot of our retired components in and stuff or students that have blocks of classes and that kind of thing. Then the other thing we're looking for is group volunteers. So something really neat that we have is a ball kit program that we do with Edmonton Police and RCMP where we do a ball bag, deflate a balls, throw a pump in there and then they have them in their cruisers to give out to kids. So you might come in and you might put ball kits together. I'd love that, driving around and see a kid just give us. I would love that. I'd be all over the place. I was... Especially in smaller communities, it's a better opening interaction than the alternative. I was at a tournament on Saturday, a Tim Bits Soccer Tournament. I was there and like there were thousands, well not thousands, but hundreds of kids. Felt like that. When there's little kids, they just feel like thousands. Yeah, you're right. There was hundreds of kids. But you know, we were leaving there, driving away and I saw kids just on the street, looking over at the park and I don't know their situation, so I don't want to make any generalizations. But I thought to myself, I bet that little kid wants to be over there. And I wonder why they can't be. Maybe they don't have cleats or whatever it is. And I kind of got thinking about that and thought, I would, man, if I had had something in my car, I would just stop and say, do you need cleats? Here's cleats, do this and that. I think that's cool. Yeah, and it's amazing what kind of world it opens up for them, right? So, but yeah, volunteer support is absolutely something we need. Equipment is what we need. And then financial support. I mean, those are the three things. Financial support. Those are the three things that make us function. So how can people give? What can they, I mean, I was gonna say, what can they give? A lot. Oh, but how can they give? What do they do? Yeah, again, if they hop on our website, there's a donate button there and you can choose to go to areas greatest need. You can choose to support a soccer player, a goalie, any of those kind of things that you want to be able to do. And then we've got a couple of special campaigns that we do during the year. One of them coming up in September is our bike drive that we do. I like the bike drive. So we aim to get a thousand bikes. Last year we got 805. And what that allows us is the entire winter to repair the bikes. So by about mid-March we like to have about 1300 in inventory. When is your bike drive? It will be the four Saturdays in September after the long weekend. And how many bikes you want again? A thousand. And then so then we can work on them over the winter. Get them in inventory. So what that means in the busy months like these months, we're giving out between 300 and 400 a month. So the more we have an inventory, the less time the kids wait. So Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam listeners, we need bikes. We do need bikes. We need bikes. Yes. Y'all have bikes. I know y'all have them somewhere. Or you know somebody who has them. You can of course donate bikes year round, but that bike drive is sort of... I'm just saying, get them ready for September. And so we're just putting it out there. Lots of listeners who have bikes. This is cool. So yeah, got to get bikes. Got to get a thousand bikes. It's really important. Yeah, it's and I mean, we've talked about this many times already. It's just that importance of the bike and the freedom. And you know, I remember I had a orange banana bike and I remember it to this day. And I love that bike. And I was a single. My mom was a single mom and I only ever had used bikes. I never had new bikes and they came from friends and neighbors. But I'm telling you, as an only child from a single mom, my bike was my lifeline in the summer. It was my lifeline. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have a bike. I could go see friends. I could ride all over. The day was a little different when you could ride. I can remember riding down to the park. I'd never let my kid ride down to the park today, but as far away as it was. But I don't know what I would have done without it. And I think part of it, now that I think about it, Janna, was the pride of ownership of my bike. Well, I want to read you this note that we got from a parent because it puts everything in perspective very quickly. She said to us, Sport Central has been an absolute blessing to our family. When we received those three bicycles, it felt like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day. Our kids' eyes lit up. They couldn't believe they were getting their own, very own bikes for free. Not only did Sport Central provide us the means to explore our neighborhood together, but they also gifted us moments of joy, laughter, and shared adventures. Those bikes became more than just wheels, they became memories. Like I've been at Sport Central for years and I still, when I read these testimonials and stuff, it's like, and that's what I say to people. Sometimes people say, Janna, I only have one ball glove or only have one pair of skates or only have this. And I say to them, you can't imagine what that one piece of equipment can do for a kid. So, you know, honestly, it's just, we want that unused stuff sitting in your house. So if you can get that to us. My bike and my skateboard were the two most important things in my life. Without a doubt, like they were just at that time in my life, in the summer, they were the most important things in my life. I loved it. Yeah. And I just think, you know, sport and recreation teaches us so much. It's the friendships, it's the inclusion, it's the winning, it's the losing, it's the all of those things. And I certainly, you know, I'm a driven person and I attribute that a lot to sports in my life. I'm going to drive around Acheson and I'm going to knock on business door and get bikes. That's what I'm going to do, I'm going to do, no, I'm going to do that. I do that. You're looking at me. Calm down over there. I want to do that. I want to drive around and get bikes. I want to go into business and go I'm here to pick up your bikes. They'll be like, who is this weird person? Get out. Well, I know a lot of them. You know, it's a really neat thing recently too, is we had a realtor come through on a tour. And again, I think everyone that comes through is it's hard not to be moved. And so he, he went home and kind of his neighborhood cul-de-sac. He went out and collected equipment from all the homes around him. And he lined everything up on his driveway and his driveway was full. Yeah. No, I like everybody has everybody has something. I know you're right. And that's in a time when money is tight and people can't necessarily give money. People can still help by giving, giving that equipment. So, what a sight. This is amazing. Yeah. Website? sportscentral.org..org..org. Good thing we clarified that..org. Yeah it is. sportscentral.org. not .com .org. sportscentral.org. Phone number? 780-477-1166. Okay. 477-1166. And this ties in to the perfect last question that we always ask. Perfect last question. Janna, what is the best piece of advice that you've been given, whether personally or professionally? That you still carry with you to this day. Is to always say yes. Just to open yourself up and, and, and try things. Do it. And you may try something and not like it and go, hey, I'm not going to do that again. But you tried it because as I've talked about through my career, just by opening myself, myself up to things and being in places is, is how I how I got employment and gained friends. So just say yes. Be curious. Do it. Incredible. Janna, this has been an absolute pleasure. Janna, you're amazing. You really are. You're amazing. I love what you do. But I love the spirit in which you do it, which I think is 10 tenths of the equation. And more than that, you're just such an encouragement. Like I just I sit with you and I get all worked up. I know. Janna's killing it. I know. She's just like, well, I got to go get bikes. Like I got to do this. Like this is amazing. And you do an incredible job. And listen, folks, all our listeners, you got to just check it out. Just check it out. That's all you got to do. Check it out. That's right. It's worth checking out. absolutely..org..org. sportscentral.org. I'm going to say that. They say if you say it three times, people will remember it. So sportscentral.org. And just incredible. We want to come see the new warehouse. We do. That's going to be amazing. And then we'll talk about that on the podcast as well. And so that's incredible. Thanks, everybody. Hey, listen, I want to once again thank Wing Snob for doing such an amazing job with wings. If you have not had Wing Snob tonight, if you don't know what to have for dinner, hey, check out Wing Snob. Get the family wings. They're going to love you forever. It's amazing. I've not been to Wing Snob and now I'm going to Wing Snob. I'm trying all 16 flavors. We're going to introduce you to Mike and Mike and we'll cook you up with Mike. And so, yeah, that'll be amazing. And so, yeah, check out Wing Snob. And listen, hey, make sure you tell everybody about the podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your enemies. If you don't have a friend, just make one so you can tell them about this podcast. You know why? Because they probably have sports equipment to donate. They got a bike in their garage that they can donate. So tell them about it and tell everybody about the podcast. And wherever you get your podcasts, and if you don't know where to get your podcasts, go to www. www.coffeeinthepark.com And you can download it there. And you also want to Subscribe, because then you will not miss a new episode of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. Do you know my mom subscribes? She does? She does. I love your mom. I know. I just want to say that. Your mom, anyway, there's reason. I love your mom. She's amazing. And the fact that she subscribes makes me love her even more. So you know what? For all you younger folks, it tells you don't know how to get a podcast. Not to name any names. I better not name any names. We won't name names. Who thought they could listen to us on CFCW? That's still the best. Are you on CFCW? No. No, we're not. We're a podcast. Okay, I'm just saying. All right. So check us out wherever you get your podcasts or at www. www.coffeeinthepark.com. Thanks everybody. We'll see you next time. Thanks everyone. See you next week.