Driven to help out local school

Community members were driving up fundraising support for one local school recently.

On June 15, Birchwood Ford brought Ford Motor Company of Canada’s Drive One for UR School program to École Provencher (320 avenue de la Cathédrale), when $20 was donated by the company for every individual who test-drove a Ford vehicle.

Organizers say the event totalled 140 test drives, and raised $2,800 to support playground improvements, including an outdoor classroom, new play equipment, and more greenspace.

According to a news release, the school, which is the oldest in St. Boniface, changed from a kindergarten to Grade 6 school to a kindergarten to Grade 3 school, and the building is now also home to two daycares and a nursery school program.

"Right now, we have a lot of asphalt, and structures that are geared towards older elementary kids," said Lyette Carrière, principal of École Provencher, in a news release. "The parent advisory council is working to make the outdoor space safer for the little ones."

In the same release, Reagan Slezak, general sales manager at Birchwood Ford, said the event was "amazing and well organized" by the team at the school.

"We were more than impressed with the entire event and how they’ve pulled the entire community together in their efforts," he said.