WESTERN CANADA SUMMER GAMES OFF AND RUNNING:
Swift Current Broncos equipment assistant Nolan Paradis receives a high five and cheers of support along the torch relay route in Swift Current, Aug. 3. The Summer Games begin Aug. 10 in Swift Current.
Food and fuel supplied by Pioneer Co-op will help to keep volunteers and vehicles going during the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current.
Pioneer Co-op Food Manager Daryl Frederickson and Friends of the Games Director Scott Cassidy announced the company’s support for the Summer Games, July 30.
Cassidy estimated the monetary value of the Co-op’s in-kind contribution to the largest event ever hosted in the Swift Current area will be around $18,000. The commitment includes daily food for approximately 180 volunteers during the 10-day event as well as 1,500 litres of diesel and 6,000 pounds of propane for various vehicles.
“The Co-op has really invested quite a bit of time and energy and financial commitment to the Games, and we’re not surprised,” he said. “The Co-op stands for being involved in the community and without a doubt again they’re here to sponsor a Swift Current initiative. So very happy to have Pioneer Co-op on board and to continue to work with them during the Games.”
Frederickson viewed the support for the Summer Games as a part of Pioneer Co-op’s commitment to the community.
“We are a part of the community,” he said. “We want to be involved, and this is a huge event for specifically Swift Current, but Saskatchewan and Pioneer Coop. We had an opportunity to look after feeding our volunteers, which there’s many, and we want to be a part of this type of event. So we went for it.”
At the same time the company’s contribution to the Summer Games will present an opportunity to feature the Co-op Gold brand of products that will be used for the provision of food to volunteers.
“Everything we’re providing is Co-op Gold,” he said. “When you talk about lunch, we’re creating sandwiches, wraps et cetera from our deli department. We’ll be making them fresh every day and I don’t believe anyone will be disappointed by the quality of food that we create.”
The hosting of the Summer Games at various venues in and around Swift Current will mean a significant amount of travelling by event vehicles, as well as numerous trips to the airport in Regina. Pioneer Coop felt that transportation is a component of the event where the company can also make a contribution.
“We’re a major player in the southwest with gasoline, diesel, of course farm agro products,” Frederickson explained. “It was a fit, it was required. The Games committee is going to be transporting athletes and coaches et cetera all over the southwest, and because we’re into that and we have petroleum all over at many branches and branch locations, we felt it necessary to be involved in that way as well.”
Over 1,700 athletes, coaches, officials and mission staff from Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Yukon will attend the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games from Aug. 9-18. For more information about the event or to buy tickets, visit the website http://2019wcsg.ca