Champion for Charity Jason Kropf has an appetite for the Sweet Science of fundraising for MacKids
By Jeff Hicks
KITCHENER —
An eerily unfamiliar face approached in the cool evening air of a grocery store parking lot.
From the deepest pocket of his working pants, the mysterious stranger unfolded a brown piece of polymer. He took out a crisp $100 bill and handed it to a stunned Jason Kropf.
Kropf, just announced that November day as one of Mandy Bujold’s Champions for Charity, will make his fundraising boxing debut in a sold-out Brawl at Tapestry Hall on April 4.
He locked eyes with long-ago Prime Minister Robert Borden and shook his head in disbelief.
Already, the money had started to roll in for McMaster Children’s Hospital.
“That was my first donation — some random person walking into Zehrs,” said Kropf, the 46-year-old general manager and partner at Moser Landscape Group.
“I’m going into the grocery store with my wife and son and this guy — Jay — says he worked for me years ago. ‘Here’s a hundred dollars for this cause.’ That was an hour into doing this, that made me think that people are paying attention to this. This is crazy.”
That was early December, as Jason and Mandy and son Eric, 14, went on a grocery-story expedition in search of Brussels sprouts, asparagus and high-protein cookbooks.
As March approached, Kropf had collected donations, like he once collected saves and shutouts as a Jr. B goalie for the Kitchener Dutchmen and Waterloo Siskins.
He had $33,700 worth while the Champions had raised more than $472,000 for MacKids.
The goal for this third Champions for Charity event is $500,000. Once reached, a million dollars will be been raised for MacKids over three Champions events since 2019.
“The support is so huge — it’s coming from every direction,” said Kropf.
“We’re getting support from family, friends, business partners, relatives, people we deal with. They really want to give to this.”
Kropf is happy to, as he put it, lead with his face in the boxing ring for the first time.
A year ago, his Eric went to McMaster for successful hernia surgery. Jason was impressed with how comfortable the hospital professionals made the family feel.
“I could not believe how well-oiled a machine Mac runs, from my experience there,” Kropf said. “It was unbelievable.”
The 15 weeks of Champions for Charity boxing training at Sydfit Health Centre with the Red Team’s collection of business leaders and community heavyweights has been eye-opening too.
A change in diet is one thing. Hard training is another.
“It is a gruelling, gruelling thing,” said Kropf, thinking of the skipping, bag work and sparring.
“I’ve never boxed before. I’ve always played team sports. I thought, with boxing, you just go in there and punch some guy. But it’s a chess match. It’s extremely tactical. I had no idea.”
Kropf is planning to live-stream the sold-out black-tie event on April 4 at the former sugar beet factory on Union Street in Kitchener that now serves as the Moser head office.
“We have a beautiful venue,” Kropf said of the watch party. “We’re just trying to give another venue with a bit of the same feel.”
They might even be serving Brussels spouts to the boxers’ family and friends.
Eric still hates them. But his dad is developing a taste for the tiny cabbages that helped land his first Champions for Charity donation.
“They are growing on me —when done well.”
To support Jason, click here.
