Lealta Building Supplies of Lethbridge donated $50,000 to Lethbridge College in November. The gift will be used to establish the Lealta Building Supplies Orientation and Information Display in the south entrance of the college’s Trades and Technologies Renewal and Innovation Project and to create the Lealta Building Supplies 50th Anniversary Carpentry Apprenticeship Award, which will provide $1,000 each year to a carpentry apprentice with outstanding performance in year two of his or her apprenticeship.
“This gift will provide significant support to individual carpentry apprentices as well as our whole trades program,” says Dennis Sheppard, the college’s dean of the Centre for Applied Management. “The thriving partnership between the college and an industry leader like Lealta Building Supplies provides long-term benefits to students, to the college, to industry and to the greater community.”
Lealta Building Supplies was founded in 1960 by Eugene Modrzejewski. In its early years, the company’s main focus was on finishing materials such as plywood and hardwoods. In 1999 Lealta moved to a new location and expanded the kinds of materials it supplied. With this expansion, the company started to offer a wider array of products to its customers. In 2012, industry leader Dave Jackson became sole owner of Lealta Building Supplies, bringing with him his dedication to and knowledge of the home building industry.
“At Lealta Building Supplies, we feel a strong connection to our community,” says Jackson. “We believe in supporting locally owned businesses and organizations and work in conjunction with other local businesses, helping to make our city better today, tomorrow and into the future. ‘Building Together’ is our motto and represents the sense of value that we carry into the community.”
Guests raise glasses – and raise more than $200,000 at 23rd annual wine auction
The 23rd annual Clayton Allan Wine Auction was a sparkling success last November as more than 250 guests raised more than $200,000 to support the college’s Learning Commons project. The Learning Commons will renovate and expand Lethbridge College’s Buchanan Library into a 45,000-squarefoot, 24-hour learning centre that will offer conventional library services as well as new technology and digital resources.
The menu, prepared by students and instructors in the college’s Culinary Careers program, included Arctic char, Alberta duck and Atlantic lobster, as well as juniper-dusted venison, porcini risotto and quail eggs. Some of the highlights of the evening included generous bidders who would win one of the lots up for auction and then give it back to the college to be resold again. Between these donors and those who donated money in a “cash auction” at the end of the night, the college raised more than $67,000. The rest of the money was raised through bids for rare wines, savoury Scotches, and experiences such as cooking classes at the college, large dinners for a group of friends, and even a trip to Prince Edward Island. Thanks go out to all who helped make the evening such a success.
