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In the early stages of my tenure with Manalta Coal in the 1980’s, one of my responsibilities was to monitor and annually summarize the charitable and non-charitable donations made both corporately and by each of our seven operating coal mines. In some cases, those donations would simply involve cash donations, which were typically quite substantial. In many cases, however, the donations took the form of even more significant “in-kind” contributions to the communities in the immediate vicinity of our mines. Sometimes those “in-kind” donations would take the form of providing equipment and associated operators from our mines to help local communities complete construction projects that they could not otherwise have afforded. In other cases, it involved our incredible employees volunteering their precious time to respond to needs in the community, ranging from assembling new playgrounds, to raising funds for various worthy causes.

One particular contribution to the community that stands out in my mind to this day involved some of our employees coming together, quickly and quietly, to meet a pressing need about which our Company was not even aware. Meeting that particular need involved a number of our employees selflessly banding together on short notice to purchase a life-saving insulin pump and associated monitoring device for a severely diabetic toddler whose single mother worked at one of our mines. Although such pumps and monitors are relatively commonplace today, at the time they were relatively rare, and had a cost clearly well beyond the financial means of most single mothers. To this day I take great pride in being blessed to have been associated with an organization that had employees who were willing to step up, in that case anonymously, to help their colleagues in need. Furthermore, I feel even greater pride in knowing that the remarkable demonstration of community spirit by our employees in that one instance was likely not an isolated incident.  I have every reason to believe that similar demonstrations of that same spirit are likely being quietly repeated each and every day by countless other employees associated with our current organization, and by other Canadians across our great, and always giving, country.

Kevin B. – Coril Holdings Ltd.

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