Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario honoured two Brantford-based volunteers, Gary “Ko” Kusch and Tom Stoffelsen, with King Charles III Coronation Medals during a ceremony at the Brantford ReStore on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
The medals, which were introduced to commemorate King Charles’ coronation on May 6, 2023, are a part of a national initiative to honour 30,000 individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their communities, regions, provinces or the county as a whole.
During the event, Renee VanderHarst, Manager of Volunteer Services with Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario, explained that Habitat for Humanity Canada was selected as a partner by the federal government to receive 57 medals to distribute.
“We at Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario decided to look at the total number of hours that our volunteers contributed since May 6, 2023, which was the day of King Charles’ coronation, and submit into consideration the volunteers that contributed the most time since that date,” said VanderHarst. “Out of over 800 volunteers that supported Habitat Heartland last year across Brant County, Elgin County, Norfolk County, Middlesex County, Oxford County and Perth County… our top three were from Stratford, George Smith, who we celebrated this morning, and from Brantford, not one but two.”
“Gary Kusch, also known as ‘Ko’ has been volunteering with Habitat Heartland since May of 2014, and in the past ten years, he has contributed over 15,400 hours to our organization. It’s pretty safe to say that we all feel like Ko is a member of the family here at the Brantford ReStore,” she added. “…Now, when we talk about Tom Stoffelsen, Tom has only been volunteering with us for a short time in comparison. He started volunteering during the pandemic in April 2021 and in the short years since Tom has been here, he has been a vital part of our build team, in particular with all of our projects at Six Nations of the Grand River. Tom has contributed over 1,750 hours in that short time.”
After some words of endearment from the Brantford ReStore staff, Susan Fahner, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario, thanked both Kusch and Stoffelsen for all of their hard work and dedication.
“Thank you to both of you and thank you to everyone that made this happen today,” she said. “On behalf of Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario, the staff, volunteers, your community and those that you’ve impacted… I’m absolutely honoured to present to you the King Charles III Coronation Medal.”
Following the playing of ‘O Canada,’ Kusch later told the Brant Beacon that it felt great to be honoured with the medal. When asked what it was about volunteering at the Brantford ReStore that he liked, his answer was short but enthusiastic, “everything!” he said.
Stoffelsen had similar sentiments, adding that he hopes to continue his volunteer work for many more years to come.
“I like getting to try to do something good for people,” he said. “My life’s work has been in construction so this work here fits me well and keeps me in shape physically too.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
