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Communities in Bloom - Teck jumps on as national sponsor

Company commits to provide $15,000 annual donation

Trail Operations’ hand in the city’s blooming program has helped establish a stronger bond at the national level, if a new $15,000 annual donation is any indication.

Teck is now a sponsor of Communities in Bloom, the Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification, by encouraging communities to establish their own programs, much like Trail’s.

“Teck is committed to supporting the communities in which we live, work and raise our families,” said communications manager Carol Vanelli Worosz.

“The Communities in Bloom program has been of great benefit to both the City of Trail and Teck Trail Operations and we are very pleased to be coming on board as a national sponsor.”

Trail Community in Bloom chair Dan Rodlie, who also sits on the national board and is a Teck employee, made the recommendation to the mining giant.

With help from manager Mike Martin, the message reached decision-makers who agreed to the $15,000 donation, with $5,000 going to the provincial challenge.

“To us, it’s another feather in our hat that we’ve been recognized for local efforts around the corporate table,” said Rodlie.

Trail has come along way from when it first signed up for the challenge in 2002, which invites judges into communities to rate criteria like tidiness, environmental action and floral displays.

The smelter town’s scoring has increased by over 15 per cent its first year. By 2005, the city became a provincial winner, earning five blooms, which has remained the status quo.

Last year it won its category in the national competition and this year it will go head-to-head with municipalities of like size in an international challenge.

While the relationship between Teck and the national program is new, the local bond goes back to the program’s inception in                           2002.

Among the list of supporters, Trail Operations contributes $6,000 annually toward the Trail Garden Contest – a program that invites local green thumbs to go after prizes for their gardening             efforts.

Teck is the first industrial company to support Communities in Bloom and though Trail may have pushed for the donation, the funds will benefit other communities, like Kamloops, where the company has other interests.

Teck holds a 97.5 per cent stake there in Highland Valley Copper, an open-pit mine that produces copper and molybdenum.