Another $5,000 in Cold Cash from Parmalat for Clean Water
A major corporate contributor to South Nation Conservation’s Clean Water Program (CWP), for the past 15 years, Parmalat Canada has come through with another $5,000 donation to the ongoing effort.
Appropriately, the latest cheque was presented to the Clean Water Committee (CWC) during a meeting September 9 at the company’s cold storage facility in Winchester. Committee chair Jackie Pemberton, a former Parmalat employee, thanked the milk processor for its ongoing generosity now totalling $290,000.
“I worked for Parmalat when the program was introduced,” Pemberton noted. “There’s been nothing but cooperation and support ever since.”
Committed to health and wellness of Canadians through its high-quality food products, part of the overall Parmalat approach is to invest in the natural environment.
Over the years, the company has kept up contributions to the CWP aimed at reducing the phosphorus load in the South Nation River and its tributaries. Parmalat has long been an active member of the CWC that allocates yearly funding to regional water quality improvement projects on a 50-50 cost-share basis.
It all goes back to1998-2000, said Ronda Boutz, SNC Team Lead, Communications and Outreach. That’s when Parmalat first participated in the phosphorus trading program, contributing $150,000 to the CWP for implementation of best management practices and to improve water quality.
Boutz said the environmental leadership demonstrated by Parmalat over the past 15 years has helped provide initiative to other corporations working in the watershed to get involved in phosphorus reduction.
In place since 1993, the CWP has funded more than 700 projects valued at $10.7 million, including $2.2 million in grants. Funding for 2013 has been fully allocated; property owners interested in participating in the 2014 program are urged to get their applications in as early as possible.
With applications accepted until the end of the year, the CWP still has limited sponsorship funding available for agri-environmental projects and initiatives undertaken by farm organizations within SNC’s jurisdiction.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Ronda Boutz, SNC, 877-984-2948, ext. 251.
Rboutz@nation.on.ca