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Xstrata Nickel donates Camp Falcona and $150,000 to the Sudbury YMCA (PDF)
YMCA Strong kids campaign the Beneficiary of both
Sudbury, Ontario 18 June 2008
Xstrata Nickel announced today a donation of $50,000 for each of the next three years to the Sudbury YMCA and the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. In addition to the monetary donation, Xstrata Nickel also signed over the deed to Camp Falcona to the YMCA who has been running the camp since 1998. The total donation is worth an estimated $600,000.
“We are very excited and proud to be part of the YMCA family in Sudbury,” said Dan Malinski, Thayer-Lindsley Mine Manager at Xstrata Nickel. “Their work on the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign and management of Camp Falcona is enhancing our community by providing the kids of financially challenged families the opportunity to keep healthy and to be included in great life experiences. The benefits of these programs are invaluable to the City of Greater Sudbury now and in the future.”
“This is an exciting day for the YMCA in Sudbury,” Said Daran Moxam, Chair of the YMCA’s Board of Directors. “The donation of the property and buildings at Camp Falcona will ensure that YMCA camping programs will happen on Nelson Lake for many years into the future. The support given to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign will open YMCA doors for more children who otherwise could not afford the fees. Xstrata’s support will strengthen our community through its families and children.”
By embracing and engaging the youth of Sudbury, the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign will provide them the tools necessary to build strong communities. The program raises financial support for children, teens and families who are unable to afford the full cost of participation in a YMCA program or activity. It can enable a financially challenged family to use a child care facility or give a child a fun and positive character-building experience at a YMCA Camp, such as Camp Falcona.
The experiences of summer camp or the skills learned through a YMCA membership will stay with a child forever. Strong kids and strong families build stronger communities everywhere.
Camp Falcona was established in 1937 by then Falconbridge Manager Ernest Craig as a summer camp for employees’ children. It was operated by the company for 60 years before being handed over to the Sudbury YMCA. The YMCA immediately integrated it with their John Island Camp programming and hired full-time professionals to run the operation. Under the YMCA’s direction Camp Falcona currently offers traditional summer camps for children, family camping, as well as non-summer initiatives such as school programs and programs for rental groups. The YMCA markets Camp Falcona throughout the North in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and North Bay. True to their mandate, they have always offered financial assistance to families who could not afford the camp fees. The future looks bright as innovative outdoor programs now have a permanent home in Sudbury thanks to Xstrata Nickel.
Xstrata Nickel, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is one of Xstrata Group’s global commodity businesses, comprising five mines and processing facilities in Ontario and Quebec, Canada; a ferronickel mine and processing facility in Bonao, Dominican Republic; a high-grade sulphide mine and processing facility in Western Australia and a refinery in Kristiansand, Norway. Xstrata Nickel has a significant portfolio of growth projects, including Koniambo in New Caledonia, Nickel Rim South in Canada, Kabanga in Tanzania, Araguaia in Brazil and Sinclair in Australia. Xstrata Nickel is the world’s fourth largest nickel producer, with annual managed production of more than 116,000 tonnes of refined nickel. In Sudbury, Xstrata Nickel employs more than 1,800 people. For more information about Xstrata Nickel, please visit www.xstrata.com.
YMCA Sudbury is a charity offering opportunities to individuals, families and communities for personal growth in spirit, mind and body and service to others. We focus on the healthy growth of children, strengthening families and addressing community needs. We engage over 40,000 people through health, fitness and recreation, child, youth and family, and employment and community programs at more than 15 sites across the Greater Sudbury area. For more information please visit www.sudbury.ymca.ca
Media Contacts:
Kerri Jones
Senior Advisor, Corporate Affairs
Xstrata Nickel
(705) 693-2761 ext. 3989
kjones@xstratanickel.ca
John Schmitt
Chief Executive Officer
YMCA Sudbury
(705) 673-9136
john.schmitt@sudbury.ymca.ca