Lehigh in the Community
Lehigh Materials is actively involved in our local communities. We do more than help build them – we help our communities reach their full potential.
Bring Back the Wild Sockeye Salmon Project
Lehigh Hanson and Earth Rangers have partnered efforts with the Kwikwetlem First Nation to help bring the Sockeye Salmon back to British Columbia's Coquitlam River. A formal ceremony kicked off the initiative. Join the Lehigh Materials Salmon Savers team at our Pipeline Mine to help to Bring Back the Wild!
Through the Bring Back the Wild program, members and participants are educated on the importance of protecting animals and empowered to take action with the tools
to start a fundraising campaign.
Once migrating through this river in the thousands, the species had not been seen for some 105 years following the construction of a hydroelectric dam. But with the hard work of the Kwikwetlem
First Nation and Watershed Watch Salmon Society, there is a new hope for the population.
In 2017, nearly 5,000 hatchery-reared juvenile salmon were released in a ceremony below the dam, and some 50 adults from this release are expected
to return to the Coquitlam River this summer and fall.
For more information on the Bring Back the Wild Sockeye Salmon Project click here.
SECHELT OPEN HOUSE
As one of the largest employers on BC’s Sunshine Coast, Lehigh Materials in Sechelt knows how to draw a crowd. Its Open House in September 2017 brought together over 1200 people from the surrounding communities. From the opening ceremony, with a welcoming song from local shíshálh Nation performers, to free hotdogs, burgers, snow cones, face painting, truck and mining tours, and a bouncy castle, there was entertainment for everyone. Thanks to The Lehigh Hanson Safety Team, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), Mallory Bromley Art, The Rotary Club of the Sunshine Coast, SYLVIS Environmental Service and Harry ‘the Bee Man’ and Betty Meier for helping bring all the fun festivities together. Read more in the 2017 Community Report.
Enactus Capilano University Leadership Program
How can two students from a North Vancouver university get traction on 17 of the United Nations’ loftiest goals, all from a standing start? The solution was to find mentors, reach out to local communities — including Elphinstone Secondary School in Gibsons, BC and Chatelech Secondary School, Sechelt, BC.
Lehigh Honey
In 2012, Harry ‘the Bee Man’ Meier met the manager of the Lehigh Materials mine. A previously attempted bee hive in a Lehigh Materials reclamation site had failed, but Harry was willing to give it another try under his own careful management. Harry got the colony going amongst some blackberries and flowering trees. Now there are 12 productive hives (600,000 bees), protected from bears by an electric fence! Harry and Betty Meier tend the bees on a voluntary basis — and even conduct guided tours for local children and adults interested in beekeeping. And, every year, Betty and Harry bottle some Lehigh Honey for the mine to gift to employees and the local community in Sechelt. Read more in the 2017 Community Report.
SUNSHINE COAST FOOD BANK
The Sunshine Coast Community Services Society have been caring for their community since 1974. In 1996, the organization received a donation of a single-wide trailer to operate a Food Bank. That space was well used daily for sixteen years to serve its clients. Unsurprisingly, by 2013 the trailer had deteriorated and began hindering the services available. Surrounding Sechelt companies recognized the value of the Food Bank in their community; so more than thirty local businesses, including Lehigh Materials, joined together to provide funds and in-kind donations to support the refurbishment of the Food Bank trailer. The trailer was remodeled with new cabinets, floors, counters, freezers, fridges, and rooms that made the space much more functional to the services it offers. By having a functional space, this Food Bank continues to support their community and the over 1300 clients they serve.