2020 Georgina Honouree
Dave and Anita Haynes are the proud owners of Sutton Home Hardware, one of the largest stores in York Region. In 2014, they earned the Outstanding Retailer Award – Canadian Hardliners industry – Best Hardware Store. One of their greatest community accomplishments was partnering with the Kinsmen Club to start The Sutton Santa Clause Parade of Lights in 1998. This special evening parade is now called The Kinsmen Sutton Santa Claus Parade. Over the years, Dave and Anita, along with the Kinsmen Club, have invested their heart and soul in fundraising, registering floats, and booking bands. They're incredibly proud of this event and how it brings the community together, and also credit the many individuals and local businesses who contribute significantly to make it happen.
The Haynes family believes it’s vitally important to support the community that supports them. When the community is strong and successful, everyone is, and they model this every day.
Their most unforgettable moment of giving surrounded a call they received one Christmas morning. The night before, on Christmas eve, a young family with two little boys came home to find their house had been broken into and all of their gifts under the tree stolen. The family was devastated. Right away, Dave went to his store with his two young sons to meet the police and put together some pretty neat gifts to donate. The police delivered the gifts to the family, and Dave and Anita were very grateful they could help.
With all they sponsor in Georgina, including Georgina Cares and many others, the unexpected rewards remain the genuine gratitude they feel, knowing they’ve been able to give assistance and momentum to a meaningful cause and see volunteers and organizations achieve their goals.
Dave and Anita bring so much to the table, their business acumen, community spirit, and determination to see a dream through to successful reality. They sold their first home in Port Perry in 1991 (recession) to obtain financing to buy Sutton Home Hardware. They started acquiring land in 2002 to build a new store, worked diligently for four years to secure municipal approvals, four months to demolish the existing buildings and construct the store, another month to install fixtures, and then opened in the new economy emerging in the fall of 2008, another recession.
They are passionate about encouraging others and giving back and enjoy doing so with their family. Their mantra is to make it fun, do what you love as a group; participate, create, or attend an event that has a charitable component to it. Volunteer as a family. Channel your enthusiasm for a particular sport, hobby, or pastime, and help a cause at the same time. There’s an amazing ripple effect of goodness when we do.
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