Canadian Institute of Mining donates thousands to local companies and agencies

Sep 13, 2017 | 5:57 PM

KAMLOOPS — Businesses, non-profit agencies and other groups around the city have gotten a business boost from the Canadian Institute of Mining.

The CIM held a silent auction Tuesday night as part of its annual general meeting currently taking place at Hotel 540.

Proceeds from this year’s auction went towards Ask Wellness.

Executive Committee Chair Tyler Thompson says this year’s totals surpassed expectations.

“This year we raised $66-hundred to go towards Ask Wellness,” said Thompson. “We had a really good turnout. About 160 people came out and we had some really high-quality items donated by quite a few companies that attended the event.”

Ask Wellness Executive Director Bob Hughes says the money will go towards providing medical, dental and other health services to clients.

“To find out that this group has raised that kind of funding, it couldn’t come at a better time,” said Hughes. “It shows people are understanding how hard our job is right now and that they support what we do. It will go directly to client services so those people that can’t find any other way to find the money they need for things such as to keep the power on in the building, pay their rent, pay their security deposit, etc.”

The CIM also made a donation to Kamloops Fire Rescue in memory of Cache Creek Fire Chief and long-time Highland Valley Copper employee Clayton Cassidy.

He was swept away by flood waters this past spring in Cache Creek.

“One of the things we recognized earlier with the flooding in Cache Creek is there was some equipmement Kamloops Fire Rescue didn’t have that would’ve been effective,” said Thompson. “As most people know we also lost a long-time worker in the mining industry, so it was just really important to give back.”