Published on January 6, 2018
The saying “time flies when you’re having fun” took on a whole new meaning in 2017. It feels like the team at Midas Gold blinked and the year was already over. It was a busy 12 months for our company but it was incredibly rewarding – in large part because of the work we got to do in our community and the relationships we built.
In 2017, as we continued to make progress on permitting the Stibnite Gold Project site, our team donated over 1,700 hours of their time, we brought more than 400 people to our site to teach them more about our project, and we supported many important community programs with close to $125,000 in donations. Being part of the community is incredibly important to Midas Gold and our employees live out this mission every single day. In 2017, there wasn’t a week that went by that one of our employees wasn’t volunteering at a community event, teaching students about geology, serving on a committee or coaching a local sports team.
While I am proud of all the work we did this past year, as I think about our work in the community a few things really stand out in my mind.
In October, our team stepped up when an unexpected winter storm left two different groups of hunters trapped in the back country. Blue skies turned into seven-foot snowdrifts and the roads became impossible to travel. As soon as we heard people were trapped, we fired up our snowplow and backhoe and got to work clearing a path so everyone could make it off the mountain. It took us more than 24 hours to get all 13 hunters home safely but our team didn’t stop until they were reunited with their families.
Supporting local schools and educational programs is one of our company’s favorite ways to give back. This year, we worked with the science teachers at Cascade Junior-Senior High Schools to create modern, collaborative classrooms driven by technology. The school received several grants to help upgrade the two science classrooms but they were still slightly shy of the money they needed to complete the transformation. We provided the remaining funding so the upgrades could move forward. Students are thriving in the new classrooms. They have more technology at their fingertips so they can have a hands-on learning experience by testing their hypothesis in real time.
Another way we are helping to bring learning to life (and promote recycling in the process) is through vermicomposting projects at Cascade Junior-Senior High School, Donnelly Elementary School, Payette Lakes Middle School, Meadows Valley K-12 and Council Junior-Senior High School. This fall, we gave each school two composting bins and 20,000 worms so they can recycle leftover food from lunch. The schools are just starting to get their first batch of usable compost. The compost can be studied in the science classes and then used in community gardens. So far, the schools and students have been very excited about the project.
We are so thankful for all of the partnerships we have in our community and the individuals we have been able to meet through our involvement. We love working alongside you and look forward to continuing supporting important causes and organizations in the new year.
