Two Innisfail charities were the recipients of $5,000 donations from Red Deer Mitsubishi on behalf of Innisfail's Brad Malyon on Sept. 13.
The Innisfail and District Food Bank and the Innisfail Christmas Bureau both received $5,000 from Red Deer Mitsubishi as part of the promotion.
“We want to help communities around us,” said Chad Protasiewich, the dealership's general manager. “Whether or not people shop from us we want to be able to help those communities any way we can. This is just one way, one more time we are able to do this.”
He noted the community supports the dealership, and that is a large part of its success.
Malyon purchased two used vehicles from the Red Deer dealership in August and his name went into a draw for $10,000, and $10,000 to the charity of his choice.
His name was drawn two weeks ago and when he received the news he was not sure what to think.
“I thought we were being scammed,” said the 27-year-old Innisfailian. “How often do you get an email like that?”
Malyon and his three young children -- aged three, four and 11 -- were on hand to receive the $10,000 from Protasiewich on Sept. 13 and to present the donations to the Innisfail and District Food Bank and Innisfail Christmas Bureau.
Carole Sim of the food bank and Marian Moritz of the Christmas Bureau received the donation on behalf of their organizations.
“The food bank is continually in need of resources and we are very pleased to receive this,” said Sim. “Our clients' needs never stop and as a result, we rely on ongoing support like this.”
Moritz of the Christmas Bureau is looking forward to the next season with the early $5,000 boost.
“It certainly gives us a good head start on donation for the bureau,” said Mortiz. “Our season is only six weeks but they are busy, and if we can go into the winter with a head start, that makes our year easier.”
Malyon was asked why he chose the food bank and Christmas Bureau to donate funds to.
“I wanted the $10,000 to go to a local charity, and support our community,” said Malyon. “The food bank and Christmas Bureau were our natural choices.”
