Encana continues to show support for the communities it operates in on Friday morning, February 27 by presenting the Friends of East Wheatland a cheque for $50,000 to support the coming school.
The Friends of East Wheatland has a mandate to support the new school by providing a number of the amenities that are not included in the province’s plan. This could include more and improved infrastructure, or playground equipment.
Benvan Daverne, Superintendent for Golden Hills School Division said the donation is welcomed.
“We very much appreciate the donation. The community dollars and enhanced dollars will make this project even better, and we are extremely pleased to have their support,” said Daverne.
The East Wheatland School project has been debated for years, and now the K-12 school is very close to becoming a reality. Daverne said they completed the tender process and have chosen Alberta company Delnor Construction for the project.
“They tell us they expect to be onsite sometime in the next month to begin site prep and building. We are very excited to see things going,” said Daverne.
Darci-Jane McAulay, manager of Community Relations for Encana explains the donation.
“We’re happy to give $50,000 and we have said we’ll look at it again. Obviously with the economy, this is what we can do at this point,” she said. “We plan on being in this community for a really long time. We know how important sustainable communities are and this school is needed. Hopefully today will be a kick start and we are hoping that other people will jump on board and provide some funding and we look forward to the journey and all the work done by the volunteers is really why we got involved.”
The presentation was made near the site of the new school at a drilling rig. Community Relations Advisor Luigi Vescarelli says the donation supports a number of communities.
“This donation really works well for us because it effect many communities where we operate, from Standard, Rockyford, Hussar and Gleichen. It is a really good fit for us,” he said.
Vescarelli told the group gathered the company will be drilling approximately 200 wells in the Wheatland East area this year.
