It was a concept that took root eight years ago and it has borne financial fruit for the Estevan United Way campaign ever since.
The Enbridge Pipelines’ Cooks That Cook evening out is an employee-driven initiative for the pipeline company’s staff and family members, plus a few close friends to raise significant dollars that are handed over during the Telethon weekend every year.
This year, the Enbridge employees’ efforts raised thousands of dollars, said Jeff Yanko, the company’s public affairs spokesman for the south prairie region. That number included over $14,000 raised in a live auction conducted by Jason LeBlanc, featuring items that the employees had scouted for and gathered up within the community, including such items as tickets for an Edmonton Oilers home game and barrels of gifts from local merchants. Silent auction items were also up for bids, fetching a few thousand dollars more.
This year’s event was held in the Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadet Hall and was sold out, said Yanko, a testament to the employees’ desires to continue to support the Estevan chapter of the United Way in a truly significant fashion.
Justin Pierce, the safety co-ordinator for Enbridge served as emcee for the evening, noting that the employees had raised over $160,000 for the United Way in Estevan in the previous seven years.
The guests were seated at colour-coded tables that matched the colours of the specific food lines they were to enter. There were three lines in all with each line consisting of about 14 traditional North American as well as international food items. Samples of each food were offered to the diners as they passed in front of tempting appetizers, main courses and desserts. After everyone was served, seconds were offered, with guests being invited to taste the goodies from the other food stations.
Some of the tempting dishes included Russian, sesame, Buffalo, curried or jerk chicken dishes, Madras curry with sweet chutney, salads of all descriptions, lentil hummus, spring rolls, quiche, sweet and hot pulled pork or meatballs, mushroom stew, prime ribs, jalapeno mac ‘n cheese, smashed potato bites, lasagna, bruschetta, antojitos, tacos and Chinese dumplings. The desserts featured such items as Oreo shooters, marshmallow cheesecake whips, dark chocolate Mandarin mouse pie, bake-and-take cakes, mini cheesecakes, and the always fashionable brownies.
The food pick up tables brought forth the amateur chefs from the Enbridge families as well as a cadre of local professional chefs and commercial cooks.
Thanks were extended to the local restaurants for food donations and preparation and the talent supplied for the evening.
The social evening also included a report and thank you from Christa Morhart, president of the United Way campaign in Estevan this year who noted this year’s fundraising target for the 33-hour Telethon was $325,000 so the Enbridge effort would go a long way in helping them reach that goal once it was delivered to the Legion Hall by the Enbridge employee group.
The event took place on the evening of the very day that the 176 employees and contractors associated with Enbridge’s southern prairie region learned that the operation had been sold to Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd. and that it would be business as usual, only under a new corporate name when the deal closes sometime near the end of the calendar year.
