Workers at the Great Plains Power Station once again opened their hearts and wallets to donate to the Salvation Army in Moose Jaw this Christmas, raising almost $3,000 for the Salvation Army Toy Shop to help provide gifts to struggling families.
Brad Butcher, site manager at the GPPS, project co-ordinator Jami-Lee Cuthbert, and health and safety specialist Emily Bishop were delighted to do a gift drop off at Salvation Army Community & Family Services on Dec. 18 on behalf of all the GPPS workers.
"We have men and women on site from all over the country and even further," Cuthbert said. "Although the majority are from Saskatchewan, we really do have people from all over and whenever an opportunity like this to give back to the community that we're working in, they're always all for it. So, we walked around with our elf ears and stockings on, and everyone was very happy to donate.
"The Salvation Army had told us they needed more things for the 12-to-14 age category, so we did gets lots of things for that age group, so they can have a good holiday."
For the last two years, workers on the site — which is rapidly nearing completion — have participated in site-wide fundraisers, directing their money especially toward the Salvation Army in Moose Jaw's Adopt-A-Family program. In those two years, they adopted 15 families and supplied all the gifts, groceries, and filled stockings for that year.
This year, the GPPS group, lead by top contractor Burns & McDonnell, thought they would switch things up a bit.
The Toy Shop is a program held at the Salvation Army church off Thatcher. Parents and caretakers come to the 'store' (it's all free) and are guided through by volunteers, picking out toys for each of their children. Nominations come from individuals, community-based organizations (CBOs), and the Salvation Army’s own lists.
"We're just very blessed to have organizations like the power plant think of us at this time of year," said Tammi Pinay-Ross, family services co-ordinator at the Salvation Army in Moose Jaw. "Without their donation, we wouldn't have been able to help as many teens this Christmas. Often, the donations we receive are for younger ages, you know, toys and games for the younger children, and we end up giving just gift cards to the teenagers. So, this will help us give them gifts to brighten up their holidays, and we're so grateful."
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