The Westlock Spirit Centre Foundation took another big step towards meeting its fundraising goal June 24 when it received a $75,000 donation from the Servus Credit Union.
Servus president and CEO Garth Warner presented foundation president Wayne Peyre with the donation, in the form of a giant cheque, at the branch’s grand opening.
“It’s a huge step in our funding,” Peyre said. “It shows a real commitment to the project and the community.”
Including the donation, the foundation has now raised slightly more than $1 million, Peyre said, which puts it within spitting distance of its $1.5 million goal. He added he’s confident the foundation will achieve and surpass its goal because most of the money for projects like this usually comes in the final few months.
The donation was not a surprise either, he said. Servus and the foundation had been in talks for a while about receiving support, and this was the culmination of those discussions.
By donating the $75,000, Peyre said Servus will get naming rights for the curling rink. There are different levels of funding, he said, and in their discussions, Servus decided it would contribute at the level that allowed it to name the curling rink.
Warner said the decision to donate to the Spirit Centre came down to the core values of the institution — to support the communities in which their branches are located.
“We have a belief and an obligation to support where we work,” he said. “It’s embedded in our culture.”
He added in the years Servus has been in Westlock, the community has always supported the company. As such, it was just the right thing to do to give back through the donation to the Spirit Centre, he said.
“It’s a significant project in town and we wanted to add to it,” he said.
When determining how much Servus was going to donate, Warner said he wanted it to be a significant contribution, but getting naming rights, while nice, was not a decisive factor.
Instead, it came down to the idea that the Spirit Centre needed help and it was the right time to provide it.
Westlock mayor Bruce Lennon was also in attendance for the donation, and thought it was a great move on the part of Servus.
“I hope others see the donation and will want to match it,” he said, adding it was something the Spirit Centre Foundation had been looking for a while.
Construction on the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre continues through the summer, and is currently slated to open in April 2012.
