A major pipeline company has chipped in $165,000 to bolster mental health in Sturgeon County as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sturgeon County council received a report Aug. 24 on how Pembina Pipeline Corp. had agreed to give the county $55,000 a year for three years for community enhancement. The donation was an offshoot of the company’s involvement with the county’s COVID-19 recovery task force.
Council heard that Pembina would split this donation between suicide intervention training ($25,000), specialized counselling therapy ($20,000), and supports and services that promote aging in place ($10,000).
Scott Rodda, the county’s family and community support services manager, called the donation “nothing short of spectacular,” and said it would help prevent suicides, improve mental health, and ensure more seniors could live independently in their own homes.
Mayor Alanna Hnatiw thanked Pembina officials for their sense of social justice.
“Mental health will be the next epidemic we’re having as fallout from COVID,” she said, and this support would change lives.
Council asked Rodda for annual reports on the impacts of this donation.
