For his continued generous support of the ARA Foundation, Doron Broadfoot, president, The Rent-It Store, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, has been recognized with the philanthropic organization’s highest honors — the James Keenan Commemorative Award and the 1976 Club Award.
Broadfoot, who served on the ARA Foundation board from 2009 to 2013, including as chair during 2011-2012, was presented the awards in absentia because he was not able to attend the awards ceremony during The ARA Show™ in Las Vegas this past October.
The James Keenan Commemorative Award is named in honor of ARA past president and the ARA Foundation’s first president, James Keenan, who led the ARA Foundation for 10 years in the 1970s and 1980s. This award is presented to those who have contributed a total of $10,000 or more to the ARA Foundation over a five-year period.
The 1976 Club Award is presented in honor of the year the ARA Foundation was established. This award goes to those who have contributed a total of $5,000 or more to the ARA Foundation in a single year.
“The reason that we give to the ARA Foundation is very simple: This industry has been so good to our company and all of our team that when we were looking for a way to give back, it just seemed that the ARA Foundation provided the best conduit and overall fit for us,” Broadfoot says.
Broadfoot lists disaster relief and scholarships as the ARA Foundations programs that are dearest to him.
“The disaster relief program is something that would have been of great benefit to our company after a major fire we had in 2003,” he says. “Rental companies around our area and in other provinces — competitors, as well — came to our aid in a display of the great character that comprises the rental industry. However, at that time, there was not a formal or centralized mechanism available such as exists now through the Foundation. It is our privilege and pleasure to try to help in our own little way.”
Broadfoot shares this award with Fred Dupy, president, American Party Rental, Austin, Texas, and his wife, Monica. Fred has served on the ARA Foundation board since 2018, including as chair in 2020.