INNISFAIL – Johns Manville welcomes everyone to its annual Family Christmas Turkey Dinner.
The event takes place at the Innisfail United Church on Dec. 18.
“We're going to invite everyone from the community this year regardless of their financial ability,” said Cathy Ouellette, human resources manager.
This is the second time Johns Manville has hosted a turkey dinner. Last year was a great success, noted Ouellette.
“For our first Christmas dinner we had 240 people and we had over 50 employees and their families help out, that cooked, served and cleaned up. All the food was donated by employees last year, including the turkeys.”
Tickets for this year's dinner are being sold by employees and will be given out through the Innisfail and District Christmas Bureau. Tickets will also be available at the door.
“We definitely encourage people to come out and support a good cause if they can afford it, and if they can't we encourage them to come anyway and enjoy a good meal,” said Ouellette.
Tickets are $10 per person, $20 per family or can be purchased with a donation to the Innisfail and District Food Bank.
This year, the dinner will be served in one sitting from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. said Ouellette, noting they can seat 160 people at a time.
“All money raised will go to the Christmas Bureau and all the food donated will go to the food bank,” she said, adding they anticipate another good turnout.
“We're hoping to double (attendance). We're hoping for 500 people and we think we can serve up to 700,” said Ouellette. “We will try to move people in and out as smoothly as possible.”
Johns Manville will add to its donations with the turkey dinner.
“Before the dinner we do fundraising for the Innisfail Christmas Bureau here at the plant,” she said, noting the amounts employees raised this year. “The employees themselves donated $4,115 and the company matched that.”
In addition, the company collected scrap metal throughout the year for recycling and raised an additional $6,589 for the local Christmas Bureau.
“The total amount was $14,819. Of that we donated $11,819 to the Innisfail Christmas Bureau and $3,000 to the Innisfail and District Food Bank,” said Ouellette.
Funds and food donations collected at both the turkey dinner and Johns Manville Christmas parties will be added to this amount.
Ouellette said the company has been a part of the Innisfail community for 40 years and enjoys giving back to the community.
“As a company here at Johns Manville, we try to treat our employees well and I think that's reflected in the way they treat their community,” said Ouellette. “It's a partnership with the company and the employees. We ripple that generosity out into our community.”
Cathy Ouellette, human resources manager
"As a company here at Johns Manville we try to treat our employees well and I think that's reflected in the way they treat their community."
