Supporting BC communities during the COVID-19 pandemic
Communities across the province faced unprecedented challenges last year but adapting to these changing circumstances lead to new ways to support their residents. Critical services like food banks saw even more demand and community food programs were in need of volunteers to help get food to those most vulnerable. We found opportunities to help these organizations and learned about some of the great work happening to support British Columbians during this time.
Getting food to those in need
The trucking industry was one of many critical services impacted by the pandemic as many restaurants closed down. Truck drivers who were delivering much needed supplies during the pandemic relied on these services so the BC Trucking Association put out a call for help and we jumped on the opportunity.
Marcie Gillette, marketing and customer communications manager at FortisBC, recognized the importance of supporting our trucking partners: “We’ve long been invested in the transportation industry through our natural gas for transportation offerings, and this was another way we could support our transportation partners. We knew they had been struggling to find places to eat on the road, and so we quickly rallied to bring the sponsorship to life.”
To help provide meals to drivers, food trucks were stationed in Chilliwack, Hope, Kamloops and Kelowna and were ready to serve up hot, delicious food through this sponsorship.
More than 800 on-the-go meals were given out to hungry truckers during the initial stages of the pandemic. This sponsorship also helped support local food truck businesses, many of which were feeling the impacts of the pandemic with fairs and events being cancelled.
Another critical service hit hard by the pandemic was local food banks with many locations temporarily closing due to restrictions and, when they reopened, had limited food stock for the growing number of families seeking their support. For example, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank had seen a 20 per cent increase in demand since the pandemic started and relied heavily on monetary and food donations from the community.1 Seeing this increasing need, we donated $50,000 to support 24 food banks across BC, helping communities when they needed it most.
Community food programs also faced shortages in food supplies and funds due to the pandemic so our Street Team was there to lend a helping hand. With events cancelled, this team of enthusiastic employees assisted with food distribution in the Lower Mainland for United Way and Meals on Wheels. We worked with United Way in the Lower Mainland who helped us get funding to food service programs by distributing our $100,000 donation to United Way partners across the province.
The Meals on Wheels program was short volunteers to drive meals to some of our communities’ most vulnerable, so we worked with the Health and Homecare Society of BC to have our Street Team deliver meals to clients in Vancouver and Richmond. This was a powerful way to connect with community members by delivering necessities to those who were unable to leave their homes and give back to the communities where we live and work.
One of our Street Team members, Kevin Davis, reflected on his experience delivering meals to clients: “Overall, it’s been a fun and rewarding experience. On a personal level, I really support what Meals on Wheels does, taking care of those members of our communities who need it most, and love that this aligns with what we believe in as a company.”
Supporting local organizations and communities
In 2020, more emphasis was placed on supporting local businesses to help stimulate local economies and help prevent BC business owners from having to close shop. We partnered with the BC Economic Development Association to encourage British Columbians to purchase gift cards to their favourite BC businesses. Local businesses across BC could contact our customer service team to register for the Support Local Program, to help them generate business through the pandemic.
To bring some positivity into our community spaces while enhancing safety measures, we worked with the Downtown Vancouver Business Association as well as the Downtown Kelowna and Tourism Kelowna associations to provide hand sanitizing stations in high traffic areas.
At the end of the year, we surprised an iconic Vancouver organization with a gift that keeps on giving. The Vancouver Aquarium shut its doors in September 2020 because of the pandemic but it was still home to more than 70,000 animals. The organization was facing financial strain due to the decreased attendance and closures. On top of that, the natural gas boilers used to heat the Amazon Centre, Aqua Centre and shark tanks stopped working earlier in the year. To help the organization and the animals that call the aquarium home, we looked for an affordable solution that could help the facility for years to come. We repurposed three high-efficiency natural gas boilers, all of which were still in good condition from a recent project, and gave them a new life by donating them to the Aquarium so they could heat habitats for the upcoming winter months.
Investing in our communities
Every year, we’re proud to support the communities where we live and work by contributing to initiatives that benefit children, support the trades, protect the environment, promote safety, contribute to Indigenous cultures and more.
One of the organizations in need of funding support was the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre to help accommodate the increased need for their services. Due to physical distancing measures, the shelter secured two new locations to help women in need and the financial support we provided went toward furnishing these new locations as well as helping support their Indigenous cultural programs and food service programs.
Beyond our annual community investment program, every year we accept nominations from around BC for our Community Giving Awards of $15,000 each to worthy organizations. Four deserving non-profit organizations received financial support to help people in their communities during an unprecedented time. The 2020 winners were Castlegar Community Response Network, Ladysmith Kinsmen Club, Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre Society in Prince George and Friends in Need Food Bank in Maple Ridge.
One of the winners, the Castlegar Community Response Network is a non-profit organization that connects seniors with a range of interactive activities, helping to decrease their isolation from communities. With physical distancing restrictions limiting social interactions, these services were appreciated by many community members. The organization used the funds to provide seniors with homemade food, entertainment, and community connections.
Employees giving back to communities
Year after year our employees form connections with local community and non-profit organizations and, through our community giving days program, give their time and effort to local projects. In September, we partnered with the Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association (KTRA) to help them with necessary upgrades to their outdoor arena. Located along the Thompson River, KTRA’s riding facility provides therapeutic horseback riding programs to individuals with medical disabilities. Due to its location, the primary arena is subject to flooding so a secondary outdoor arena was built in 2012 with recycled street sand that was uneven and may have contained debris that could be harmful to the horse or rider. With so much of the KRTA’s work helping those in Kamloops, our employees took note and volunteered their time to help remove the old surface materials and lay down a solid foundation before placing new quality sand in the arena.
Matt Mason, a community and Indigenous relations manager at FortisBC helped coordinate the four-day project and recognized the great work this organization does: “Given that the KTRA provides such a valuable service to those in need, we saw this project as a clear opportunity to make a positive difference in the community. This was such a great fit for us. As an energy provider, we had the skills and expertise for this type of construction, and also access to a network of like-minded companies who we knew would want to help.”
Working with Indigenous communities
As part of our commitment to Reconciliation, we strive to develop and strengthen mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous communities. As an organization, we’ve learned about the unique challenges these communities face and how we can work together to find the best pathways forward.
Working together with the Okanagan Training and Development Council and the Westbank First Nation, we offered the REnEW program, which provides construction skills and energy efficiency training to people who have faced barriers to employment. Through the program, participants gain the self-confidence and skills they need to seek and achieve new goals and employment opportunities. Ten participants completed the training in September 2020 where they built an energy-efficient garden shed through hands-on learning that would ultimately be donated to the Westbank First Nation.
Selena, one of the students who completed the program, found that building the garden shed was her favourite part of the program: “I entered the program to get some experience under my belt. I had never worked on a job site before. I liked the team work when we built the garden shed–everybody being together and helping each other. It’s given me a sense of accomplishment. I’m feeling a lot more confident now about going to a job site.”
We also look for opportunities to help advance education and culture within our communities. Ladysmith Secondary School shared with us conversations they have had about a need for a traditional cultural space to teach students. Community members proposed building an outdoor cultural space to serve as a classroom for elders, teachers and students to gather and learn. The project is still in the early planning stages but in 2020 we donated $100,000 to support the construction of the outdoor classroom once plans are complete.
Collaborating with communities to meet climate action goals
Senior energy specialists across BC are demonstrating the innovative ways we can reach our provincial climate action goals. These positions are funded through our Climate Action Partners program where we work with municipalities to understand their energy needs and support them with improving energy efficiency and implementing innovative renewable energy projects. In 2020, we saw a significant expansion of this program and tripled the number of positions to a total of 18 senior energy specialists working across the province.
Among the exciting work being done by our Climate Action Partners was a pilot project spearheaded by the senior energy specialist with the City of Kamloops. Starting in February, the pilot encouraged Kamloops residents to apply to receive a free home energy assessment and retrofit plan. The city wanted to better understand the energy savings, emissions reductions and costs associated with retrofitting older homes using FortisBC’s range of energy solutions as one way to help meet the province’s climate action goals.
Building opportunities for local businesses
Just as we look for ways to give back to our communities, we also look for opportunities to engage local businesses and contractors during our projects. For example, at the end of 2020, we announced a truck loading expansion project at our Tilbury liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility that will build two new loading bays to double the facility’s capacity to provide customers with LNG. Through this project, we’re working with Ideal Welders Ltd., a Delta-based company that will construct and provide the steel modules. We will also be working with the Musqueam Capital Corporation, the business arm of the Musqueam Indian Band, as well as involving other Musqueam affiliated companies as subcontractors.
We found a way to support Deltassist, a non-profit organization, who was helping those in need during the pandemic. They were offering clients grocery store gift cards and giving away fresh produce from their own community garden.
With the growing need for local community services during the pandemic, we made it a priority to give back to organizations in Delta–a community that is home to some of our current projects. The North Delta Food Bank closed in the early stages of the pandemic so Deltassist, a non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of the people in the area, started to run the food bank to help those in need. They decided to offer grocery store gift cards that clients could use to do their own shopping and about 700 residents benefited from the program every two weeks. To meet this demand, they relied heavily on donations and we responded to their call for help with a donation, helping them continue to provide their services to clients.
1 Source: Food still welcome but in COVID times, here's why money helps food bank more; North Shore News, 2020