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MERIDIAN SOURCE
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Casino donation benefits the hungry
Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Gold Horse Casino general manager, Justina Sather, left, shakes hands with The Olive Tree, COO, Jana Thompson, following a joint presentation of a $10,000 donation from SIGA and the casino to the Lloyd nonprofit on Thursday. Pat Cook, SIGA’s vice president of corporate affairs, explained their food security program in Saskatchewan. GEOFF LEE STAFF WRITER
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The Olive Tree is no longer walking on eggshells
wondering how to meet the demand for food at this time of the year when supplies run low.
The non-profit is over the moon after receiving a timely $10,000 donation last Thursday from the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and Gold Horse Casino in Lloydminster. “We’re very excited. This time of the year is always a bit of a struggle. Our donations are down in between seasons and we are just very grateful for their support,” said The Olive Tree’s chief operations officer, Jana Thompson. The funds with be used to buy food and go toward general operations. Thompson says The Olive Tree has seen an increase in the past six months for food requests, hampers, or bulk food distribution to other programming in the city as money is tight. “The cost of living is higher now. You see families that may not have needed
support before for it, but now they are asking for it,” said Thompson. The Olive Tree distributed 7,528 hampers in 2023 to help feed families and individuals in need. They also had more than 23,600 program visits last year. “With the uptick and the actual decrease in food donations coming in, this cheque for $10,000 will go toward the food bank being able to distribute that,” said Thompson. Gold Horse and SIGA also recognize the demand for food in Lloydminster as another opportunity to give back to the communities they serve with casinos. “There’s such a need right now with the rising costs for everybody,” said Gold Horse general manager, Justina Sather. “This opportunity to give back to The Olive Tree is
really exciting.” Pat Cook, who is SIGA’s vice-president of corporate affairs, drove in from Saskatoon to explain how the donation to The Olive Tree came about. “As a non-profit, 100 per cent of our profit goes back to the communities where we live and work in Saskatchewan,” said Cook. “The donation today is part of SIGA’s Community Investments Food Security Strategy with SIGA donating $225,000 to food banks and food programming across Saskatchewan this year. So we are really pleased with that.” Cook noted 25 per cent of all casino net revenue from SIGA casino operations flows to Community Development Corporations. “We reinvest that back into the local community,” said Cook.
The Body Shop files for bankruptcy, Lloyd shop closing GEOFF LEE STAFF WRITER
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The Body Shop in the LloydMall will be clos-
ing its doors shortly. A sign posted at the Lloydminster store reads, “Goodbye for
now, thank you for shopping with us today. The last day to shop: March 23, 2024. We do ask to be kind.” The local retail outlet is one of 33 stores in Canada that will close after the global beauty
brand, The Body Shop Canada Ltd., filed for bankruptcy protection. The Body Shop and the Lloyd Mall did not respond to our request for comment. The Body Shop announced Friday it
will start liquidating nearly a third of its 105 stores, with roughly half of them in Ontario. All of the Canadian stores remain open, but online sales via Canada’s ecommerce stores have stopped.
The closures in Canada follow the commencement of administration proceedings in the United Kingdom by its parent company. The Body Shop US Ltd. ceased operations on March 1.
City awarded for wastewater plant GEOFF LEE STAFF WRITER
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The City of Lloydminster is flush with pride. Lloyd is one of four winners of the 17th annual Saskatchewan Municipal Awards for its new wastewater treatment facility. Lloydminster won the award for top municipal initiative demonstrating excellence in municipal infrastructure, cooperation, and addressing community needs. The winning projects
wer e sele ct e d by t he Saskatchewan Municipal Awards Committee which reviewed 20 nominations, submitted on behalf of 28 municipalities. The committee chose Lloyd’s project for creating a new multijurisdictional, bi-provincial wastewater treatment plant requiring collaboration from leaders in all levels of government. The committee notes the treatment plant
results in improved quality of treated effluent entering the North Saskatchewan River and achieved a fair agreement that benefited residents of both Alberta and Saskatchewan. Each year, the awards committee includes partners from the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA)
among others. Other project awards went to the Town of Outlook and RM of Rudy, the Town of Assiniboia, and the RM of Prince Albert. This year’s award winners will be highlighted in ceremonies at the upcoming SARM and SUMA Conventions in Regina on March 13 and April 16 respectively. Winner videos will be available on April 17 at www.youtube.com/@ SaskMunicipalAwards.