Lakeland Mills Fund Tops $400K
.jpg)
Tiana and Anataya Schnepf present their donation, which was matched by Excel Transportation, for a total of $3860 photo courtesy PGCF
Prince George, BC – People from throughout the community are continuing to keep the workers at Lakeland Mills foremost in their minds, as donations continue to pour in to the Prince George Community Foundation.
PGCF Executive Director, Judy Neiser, says the Lakeland Mills fund now exceeds $400-thousand dollars. "We are still seeing donations from caring individuals at a steady pace."
She says many of the donations coming in most recently are the culmination of creative fundraisers and activities that community business have individuals have organized, including Tiana and Anataya Schnepf who canvassed outside of a local grocery store and raised $1,930, which was then matched by Excel Transportation.
Other donations received this week:
- Mrs. Sawatsky’s class at Buckhorn Elementary School raised $891.61
- A BBQ at DP Todd Secondary School raised $1,115.80
- Original Joe’s Restaurant donated $2,600.00 from their grand opening
- Donations and a lunch helped the Guru Gobind Sikh Temple raise $2,500.00
Neiser says the process for distributing the funds to workers displaced by the tragedy at the mill continues to unfold. "The first step requires waivers signed by employees who feel they may be making application for assistance," she says. "And, to date, the employer has been active in communicating this to their employees."
Once the waivers are received, the Foundation Executive Director says employees will be advised of the next step. She says, out of courtesy to those affected by the tragedy, that information will not be made public.
The next public fundraiser coming up in the city is a concert that is being hosted by the Railway and Forestry Museum, next Saturday, June 23rd. Tickets are $25, with proceeds going to the fund.
Comments
They don’t know how to divy it up. I’m mean logging contractors are outa work too!
NoWay,
Lakelands logging contractors are not out of work. Lakelands set them up with Plateau out of Vanderhoof and they will be logging there for the next year.
I do not believe any of this money should go to the out of work employees. It should all go to the injured employees to help with out of pocket medical & medical related expenses. We have lots of unemployed people in this town who could also use a hand so why should the Lakeland employees be treated any different. I didn’t see a single dime raised for the NCP unemployed when their mill burned down or the out of work employees from other mills when their mills closed. The Lakeland employees all received their holiday pay (minimum 3 weeks pay) and now get EI if they are not working. Some of them have already found other jobs. I have many friends who worked in all of these mills and they are all working again. Only the injured and their families should get this money to help with medical, travel and any other related expenses.
So they set them up with a Canfor mill? How nice! Where did the Canfor contractors go?
To the injured is the only place the money should go! If there is any left over i’m sure the folks who donated wouldn’t have any problem with topping up the babine victims fund.
BC Racer – This is exactly why a clear purpose, funding target and eligibility criteria should have been determined BEFORE all the fundraisers were organized. But that’s not how emotional decisions are made. Being rational after the fact won’t work, which is probably why they appear to be stuck; someone’s going to feel ripped off and there’s going to be bad feelings.
NoWay
Nothing like a negative attitude, did you aquire it or always have it?
Plateau was behind on sawlog inventory. They are having Marsolais and Jacobs each cut 200,000 meters in the Vanderhoof region. The PG companies are taking their trucks with them, they will haul 2 loads into Plateau then haul 1 load of pulp wood back to PG sawmills so they get a full day and do not have to travel empty.
It is a situation where all parties have worked together to make a bad situation a little better. There is a shortages of trucking power in Vancerhoof, this helps with that problem and keeps everyone working.
I cant wait for you negative outlook on this now.
Why does NoWay have a negative attitude?
I think he was missing the information you had and now shared, AAV, and assumed that the normal situation of lack of work for those working in the forest industry. I would assume that he did not know the situation, otherwise he would not have written about Canfor people losing work.
I have no say in the matter of who gets money. It would be nice if the community would have a bit of information since the topic seems to come up here on several occasions and the same comments are made.
I have not got the first clue of whatu support the injured get from the company and the company’s insurance provider. For all I know, they are well taken care of without the extra money.
Some people’s negative attitudes can only see negative in peoples comments. I’ve re-read my comments to see where I might of dipped below zero…….Can asking questions be negative or positive?
Burn injuries can have long term issues depending on severity. I imagine those that are injured are collecting compensation and at one point they will hopefully be given an all clear to go back to work. Where ever that work my be.
The question is compensation covering everything including expenses for the loved ones that have to travel out of town? If not the extra should come from the fund.
Comments for this article are closed.