Volunteerism

In addition to providing financial and in-kind contributions, we encourage employees to be active members of the communities where they work and live, by providing them avenues to volunteer. Four TACT (TransAlta Community Transformers) teams are active in different regions, reviewing applications and allocating funds to local community initiatives, and POWER (Projects Organized With Energetic Retirees), a group of retirees, volunteers time and energy on community projects in Alberta.

In 2004, volunteer employees in our TACT programs contributed more than 1,500 hours to a wide range of projects. Here are examples from the various TACT teams:

• Our Wabamun team near Wabamun Lake donated funding to Duffield School for upgrading the school’s playground to create a safer and wheelchair accessible environment for children. Funds were also distributed to Camp HeHoHa to adapt canoes to serve clients with disabilities.
• Our Centralia team in Washington state donated funding to the America Red Cross in Chehalis to purchase first aid and CPR training for local Boy Scouts. As well, funds were designated to Kids Kloset to help purchase school clothes for youth in need.
• Our Poplar Creek team in Fort McMurray, Alberta donated funding to the city’s Children’s Centre for the purchase of games, toys and books for its Literacy Library and Resource Centre. Employees were also active volunteers and helped serve at a fund-raising dinner for the Children’s Centre.
• Our Sarnia team, in its first year of operation, organized a food drive for the city’s Inn of the Good Shepherd, donating funds and food from employees. The team also designated funds to Rebound, an organization that supports high-risk youth, and to Pathways, an organization that supports children with high-risk medical needs.

		Our employees get directly involved in local community initiatives through our TACT (TransAlta Community Transformers) teams. Here members of our Centralia TACT team present a cheque to the Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia, Washington.

Several years ago the POWER retirees developed an idea to convert available land into a one-acre garden to grow vegetable produce and donate the harvest to the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank. In 2004, they planted, tended and harvested a record crop of more than 14,400 kilograms of vegetables.

TransAlta employees are actively involved on non-profit boards and committees. Their participation benefits community organizations by providing expertise and business perspective. In return, our company benefits by learning new perspectives and better ways to relate to external stakeholders. Our employees gain valuable experience and build external relationships which, in turn, benefit the company many times over.