It’s not all business: engineers do the right thing
July 16, 2008
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
Consulting engineering companies in Canada are contributing to their communities and to those in need in all sorts ...
Consulting engineering companies in Canada are contributing to their communities and to those in need in all sorts of ways. Here are some of the most recent announcements.
When UMA Engineering of Burnaby, B.C. decided to give more than $100,000 to charity, it asked all its employees to decide what charitable organizations the money should go to. Focus groups were held asking all the staff for input and in July the company published a list of 22 charities across Canada that had been selected. The beneficiaries ranged from school hot lunch programs, to women’s shelters, to Habitat for Humanity home building projects, to cancer foundations, nature conservancies and animal welfare organizations.
In June, SNC-Lavalin and the University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering invited Calgary high schools to submit ideas for an alternative means of transporting VIPs in the Calgary Stampede Parade. The winning “butterfly tricycle” was created by a group from Forest Lawn and Bowness high schools. The schools were given an official stampede breakfast for up to 1,000 people, two VIP seats at the parade and a day at SNC-Lavalin to meet experienced engineers.
Wardrop Engineering partnered with Habitat for Humanity to create a new home in Thunder Bay. Wardrop is also sponsoring Habitat for Humanity projects in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Victoria, B.C.
In Thunder Bay, where the project moved into a final phase in June, Wardrop has donated $10,000 for building materials and a 12-member team of employees to work on the project for one day.
Trow Associates raised more than $60,000 for the SickKids Foundation through their annual charity golf tournament held in June. High-profile guests at the tournament at the Eagles Nest Golf Club in Maple, Ontario included Hon. William Davis and Mike Cooper from CHFI-FM.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and CH2M Hill announced the winners of the 2008 FCM-CH2M Hill Sustainable Community Award on May 31 in Quebec City. FCM and CH2M Hill have been giving the award since 2000. The eight municipalities whose green projects won this year were Toronto, Pickering, Kitchener, Durham, Peel and Aurora in Ontario, Saint John in New Brunswick, and Quebec City.
If your firm has engaged in some major charitable work or financial donation, let us know. E-mail bparsons@ccemag.com
