In recognition of all the efforts made by the volunteers and the staff at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex during the Slave Lake fire last year, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) donated almost $14,000 to the multiplex on June 13.
“We made the donation to commemorate the community spirit that Athabasca showed to those who had to leave their homes in Slave Lake,” said IBC representative in Alberta Ryan Stein.
“When the fire hit, a number of communities took in a lot of evacuees who had to flee, and Athabasca took in the largest group of people with close to 2,000 over the course of two weeks. This donation was made to help recognize their generosity.”
The exact amount that was donated by IBC came out to $13,902, and that covered the costs of a new and permanent community information sign in front of the building, according to multiplex manager Rob Balay.
“They contacted us and said they wanted to make a donation in a certain price range, and asked what would be something that we really needed,” Balay said. “I got back to them and told them a sign would be something that we could use and gave them a quote for the price.
“They were originally going to give just $10,000, but after I gave them the full quote they said they would pay for it all, which was really nice of them. It’s nice to get recognized for our efforts.”
Mayor Roger Morrill, said the donation of the sign will help to increase community awareness of events and help to indicate where the multiplex is for those who come in from out of town or from the greater Athabasca region.
Chairman of the multiplex board and Athabasca County councillor Kevin Haines said the donation of the sign will be put to great use.
“It’s a nice gesture on behalf of IBC to recognize our region and all our volunteers and what we did during the Slave Lake crisis,” Haines said. “Members of the multiplex board have wanted a sign for a while because it’s something we feel we need to let the public know what’s going on, and it’s very kind of IBC to help us out with our signage and to pay for a sign that we’ll have for years to come.”
