By Steve Hubrecht
For a while this winter some people were pilfering bottle and cans from the Athalmer transfer station that were meant to be donated to local nonprofits.
Columbia Valley resident Corey Olsen helps organize the bottle and can donations, and explained to the Pioneer that he has spoken with some of the people taking the bottles, and they won’t be doing it again. But he and others involved with the initiative want to remind the public the bottles and cans are set aside for a good cause, and are asking the public to leave them where they are.
Jane Jefferson works for GFL Environmental Inc. and is often in the Athalmer transfer station. She observed people helping themselves to the shed containing bottles and cans multiple times this winter.
“It’s frustrating,” she told the Pioneer. “I don’t think some people realize these bottles and cans are supposed to go to different nonprofit groups.”
Jefferson explained there is a schedule set up for various nonprofit groups to collect the bottles on certain days, including the Kinsmen Club of the Windermere Valley, the Rotary Club of Invermere, minor hockey, local daycares, the Columbia Valley Skating Club, the Lake Windermere Ambassadors, the Invermere Companion Animal Network (ICAN), and many more.
“They’re (the bottles and cans) not there for individuals to just take. They’re for the whole community, through the nonprofits,” said Jefferson.
Olsen has been helping organize the bottles and cans since 2018, and told the Pioneer “it’s about giving back to the community.”
Rotary Club of Invermere member Wayne Rossington explained that the money that Rotary takes in from the donated bottles and cans goes to several initiatives through the club, including youth services, bursaries and scholarships ($7,500), emergency services programs such as ShelterBox Canada ($3,000), and distributed to other nonprofit groups ($14,000).
Kinsmen Club of the Windermere Valley member Dave Oaks estimated that the club raises about $8,000 from its share of the bottles and cans. The money is given to multiple local initiatives, including the Canada Day fireworks, supporting local families in times of need, Peaks Gymnastics Society, the David Thompson Secondary School (DTSS) snowboard team, the Columbia Valley Skating Club, and year-end school trips.
