2025 marked Red River Mutual’s 150th anniversary in business – and in our communities. While this represents a huge milestone in the business community, we felt it was equally important to mark the occasion by honouring our roots in the newcomer community and by giving back to those we serve in as many ways as possible.

It Started with Our Employees

As with so many great ideas at Red River Mutual, this one began with our people. To celebrate our 150th anniversary, a committee of employees came together with a single purpose: to select the recipient of a $25,000 donation that would honour the company’s roots in the newcomer community. The committee ultimately chose Regional Connections, an organization that supports newcomers as they build community, access resources, and develop the skills needed to begin their lives in Manitoba.

The committee’s efforts didn’t end with the financial contribution. Wanting to make an even more hands‑on impact, employees organized a donation drive for new and gently used winter gear to help newcomers prepare for their first Manitoba winter. It became a meaningful, employee‑led initiative that reflected both our history and our values.

To extend this spirit of community support beyond our own team, we also created an opportunity for our broker partners to join in the anniversary celebrations, treat their employees, and contribute to newcomer support in a fun and memorable way. We partnered with Winnipeg’s own Chaeban Ice Cream — founded by newcomers in 2017 — to craft a signature anniversary flavour: Red River Mutual Rhubarb. The limited‑edition flavour was available throughout June, with a portion of proceeds supporting Mosaic Family Resource Network. Thanks to the enthusiasm of our broker partners, their teams, and the community, we were able to donate $1,000 to the organization.

Home for Dinner Program

We continued supporting communities at the family level through our partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, marking our third year participating in their Home for Dinner program. In 2025, five groups of Red River Mutual employees and our broker partners spent their evenings at Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg, preparing and serving meals to families staying there.

“Volunteering at RMHC has been such a meaningful experience,” said Shelby Gauthier, a Red River Mutual business development account manager, who has volunteered for the program multiple times. “The support they provide to families is truly inspiring, and it’s amazing how everyone has a story — either their own or someone they care about — about staying there.”

As a direct result of our employees’ and brokers’ personal commitment to the Home for Dinner program, we are making plans to grow this partnership with RMHC in other provinces in 2026!

A $1 Million Milestone

In 2025, we continued to invest in the places that bring people together — the gathering spots, shared facilities, and local hubs that help neighbours support one another — through our Spruce Up Your Story community fund. And this past year we reached a huge milestone — over $1 million dollars in funds provided to community projects since the program began in 2020!

While Spruce Up Your Story typically focuses on strengthening the shared spaces that help communities thrive every day, it also had the opportunity to support one community during its time of crisis.

This past summer, Manitoba and Saskatchewan experienced one of the worst wildfire seasons in decades with states of emergency declared and thousands of people evacuated in both provinces. One of those people was Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, resident, Gay Kirby. Amid her own personal struggles, Gay reached out to Red River Mutual’s internal team and requested we help her recover her partially completed submission to Spruce Up Your Story, which she had lost access to in the tumult of the wildfires surrounding the Lac du Bonnet area.

At the same time, our employees were proactively reaching out to policyholders in affected regions, checking in on their safety and offering personal support should they need to begin the claims process. It was a small but meaningful way to reassure people that they weren’t facing this crisis alone.

We were so inspired by the commitment shown by Gay and other community members that, as a result, Red River Mutual created a special 11^th recipient award for Spruce Up Your Story in 2025. Gay and her fellow community members used the funds to spruce up their community arena.

“Writing this grant was most certainly a community effort,” said Gay. “We are, of course, over the top with the generous donation! It will be used to make an important and highly used community area so much more welcoming and safer.”

Our 2025 Spruce Up Your Story Recipients

• Boissevain School and Community Playground | Boissevain, MB
• Creighton Lodge Kitchen | Estevan, SK
• Good Neighbours Food Centre | Rosthern, SK
• Indigenous Community Healing Space at Health Sciences Centre | Winnipeg, MB
• Melita Minor Ball Diamonds | Melita, MB
• Opa’s Park | Niverville, MB
• Orville Acres Arena | Pinawa, MB
• Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan Garden | Saskatoon, SK
• RM of Woodlands Park 150 | Woodlands, MB
• Swan River Community Kitchen | Swan River, MB
• 11^th Recipient Space — Lac du Bonnet & District Arena | Lac du Bonnet, MB

In total, Red River Mutual provided nearly $456,000 toward community well-being projects in 2025. You can read more about our community involvement and internal support in our 2025 Corporate Impact Report, coming in April 2026.

As we start a new year, we remain dedicated to our communities, centering our impact around sustainable homes, supportive workplaces, and strong communities.