Making Life More Pleasant for Spirit River Seniors
The generosity of others has the power to move one to tears, but when the Rycroft Agricultural Society presented the final tally of their annual fundraiser to this year’s recipient – the Grande Spirit Foundation – it moved an entire room to tears.
“About ten days after our fundraiser, we had a final number to present to the board of the foundation and they invited us to their senior’s facility in Clairmont to meet with them,” says Dean Wark, President of Rycroft Agricultural Society. “When we read them the final number, they were all in tears. I’m not going to lie; we were all in tears. It was pretty emotional.”
The Ag Society has been running their annual “Spring Break-up” fundraiser since 2013 and was expecting to raise between $150 and $200 thousand this year. The final number: $452,700.
The funds were raised to help outfit the recently completed Spirit River Pleasant View Lodge with items needed for day-to-day support for the residents housed there, including equipment to support physiotherapy and light exercise, a family kitchen for resident family functions and the resident laundry room.
Deanna Chabot, Area Business Manager with ADAMA Canada and resident of Spirit River, has been following the construction of the lodge and when she saw the ag society’s annual fundraiser was for this purpose, she knew exactly how she could help.
“Every year, ADAMA, through our Stomping Grounds program, selects community-nominated projects across Canada to support and this one seemed a perfect fit,” she says. “I am not part of the selection committee, but I sure was rooting for them.”
Chabot contacted Wark and encouraged him to apply. In April the ag society was informed their project was selected for a $10,000 investment. It is one of 22 local initiatives that support youth, health and connection that ADAMA will invest in this year.
Wark was as appreciative of the thought behind the grant as he was of the grant itself.
“It's incredible. It's fantastic for our local community and to see a company as large as ADAMA actually care about what's going on in Spirit River, it's almost hard to process,” he says. “You don't see that with multinational companies very often, right?”
About ADAMA
ADAMA Canada has been supplying the Canadian agricultural community with crop protection products for more than a decade. We offer an innovative approach to ag and proactively seek opportunities to listen to what our customers, experts and colleagues have to say, taking their inputs and learning from their experience. We combine these insights with our expertise and respond with new products, solutions, services, tailored commercial policies, or information that is relevant to them. We are passionate about agriculture and approach what we do as much more than just a job. Our straightforward, get-it-done attitude helps us stay focused on what we care about most: helping our customers create more sustainable, profitable businesses. ADAMA is the seventh largest crop protection company globally with sales in 100 countries and has the largest portfolio of any company with over 270 active ingredients.