Residents of Bienfait, Roche Percee and surrounding areas showed their support for the Bienfait Fire Department during a recent bottle drive.
Daniyale Lalonde, who is a member of the fire department and the chairperson of the fundraising committee, said the support surpassed their expectations.
“We had a couple of trailers,” said Lalonde. “We got one from residents in Bienfait, and we got one from residents out in Roche Percee.”
The people in Roche Percee circulated the community on March 12 to collect empty bottles and cans, and when they brought the trailer into Bienfait the following morning, it was filled with containers to be taken into the SARCAN recycling depot.
And, of course, they had a lot of support from Bienfait on March 13.
“We were overwhelmed,” said Lalonde. “We didn’t think they were going to come out the way they did, and they definitely surprised us.”
The fire department had to sort all of the bottles and cans on their own. Lalonde believes they had more than 120 large bags filled with empties. One of the trailers was so full that they couldn’t have fit another bag in it, and the other trailer was so full that they had to place a tarp over it to haul it into Estevan.
The empty bottles and cans were dropped off at SARCAN in Estevan on March 18. The fire department hopes to receive a tally on how much money was raised within the next few days.
Lalonde believes this is proof that people see the need for a wildland firefighting unit that the fire department is currently fundraising for. It would help the department combat wildland fires and other similar calls.
The fundraising has progressed steadily for the unit, Lalonde said. They will have a raffle at some point in April. People can also support the fire department through a drop and go option that is offered at SARCAN.
“We have noticed that some people are still dropping their bottles off at SARCAN and money is being donated to us,” said Lalonde.
