A group of 10 children from the Boys & Girls Club of Nampa accepted a $5,000 presentation check at a small event hosted at Amalgamated Sugar’s Nampa factory on August 3.
Employees of the Nampa factory were pleased to make the $5,000 donation to the group as part of Amalgamated Sugar’s President’s Safety Award. This program rewards safety milestones at a factory with the opportunity to make impactful contributions to community organizations.
Recently, the Nampa factory achieved 500,000 work hours without a recordable injury, the second time Nampa has reached this objective. The donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Nampa is the fourth donation the factory has been able to make as part of the President’s Safety Award. The Nampa factory made past President’s Safety Award contributions to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Idaho, Make-A-Wish Idaho, and the Community Council of Idaho.
While speaking to the kids in attendance, Nampa Plant Manager, Dave Hawk, explained the role of safety at the facility. “We have a lot of employees that work with us in the factory, almost 600 people, and they are our friends,” said Hawk. “Just like none of you would want to see your friends get hurt, we don’t want to see our friends be hurt either, so we do our best to keep everyone safe.”
Derek Childers, BCTGM Union Nampa Local 284G President, spoke about the work being done on the factory floor to make safety a daily priority. “We have come a long way in improving safety practices,” said Childers. “We come to work with ten fingers and ten toes and do our part to ensure we go home the same way.”
Mechanic 1st Class Rey Basaldua agreed with Childers. “The Company gives us all the tools we need to stay safe, but it’s our job to watch out for each other and keep ourselves safe,” said Basaldua.
The Boys and Girls Club of Nampa provides an environment where kids and teens have fun, participate in life-changing programs, and build supportive relationships with peers and caring adults. “We operate on donations and rely on community partnerships to run our programs,” said Melissa Gentry, Boys and Girls Club of Nampa’s Executive Director. “Many of our kids are food insecure, so it is critical that we provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner – donations like this help make that happen.”
The story was covered by the Idaho Press. The article and photos can be found here.