ESTERHAZY — The Little Miners Community Daycare Board in Esterhazy received an early Christmas present last week, thanks to a $100,000 donation from The Mosaic Company.
“A donation this large is a blessing,” said Little Miners board chair Marissa Porter, noting feelings of excitement and relief upon hearing of the donation. “This puts us in a better spot to not have to worry about how we are going to fill the classrooms with the much-needed furniture and materials for the children who will be using our facility. It impacts our daycare tremendously to receive this generous donation. We don’t only need funds to help fill our classrooms, but we also need money for operational costs as well. Any donation, whether it’s big or small, will be put to great use within our facility.”
Earlier this year, the daycare secured a space at the Esterhazy High School that will be licensed for 70 spots when it opens—55 of those funded, with the remaining 15 non-funded spots for before and after school spaces for students in Grade 1 and older. The daycare has entered into a 25-year lease at a low rate with the Good Spirit School Division.
“We are very excited to be able to make a sizeable donation to the project,” said Marnel Jones, Director of Government and Public Affairs for Mosaic in Canada. “We have just over 1,000 employees in Estherhazy, and daycare is one of those pieces that we require for attracting and retaining staff in that area of the province. So being able to add additional spots, which hasn’t been as easy in that community, is just going to be really fantastic.”
When asked what the daycare plans to use the Mosaic donation toward, Porter listed a few main items.
“They’re going to be sponsoring three classrooms and our outdoor play space with that money,” she explained. “Basically, we’re going to use that money to fill the classrooms with all the materials that they need, and then for our outdoor play space, the money will be used for equipment, structures, outdoor classroom, and—the list could be endless!”
As for the classrooms, Jones said that they will have names familiar to Esterhazy residents.
“We’re really excited, as part of the funding that we’re providing, that they’re going to be naming the rooms in the space, so they’re going to have K1, K2 and K3 as different spaces within the daycare, which we think will be quite nice,” she said, referring to the two sites that have supplied potash for decades, and the latest mine (K3) completed in 2022. “We hope that we can partner with them to have some interesting decor that might depict some mining settings so that we can inspire those young miners to want to come work for Mosaic one day!”
Jones says giving back is an important value for Mosaic as the company invests on average $5 million in communities across Canada through three main areas of focus: food, water, and local community.
“For as long as we’ve been in Saskatchewan, we’ve seen great value in investing back into the communities that help us operate here, that are housing our employees and their families and their neighbours and friends,” Jones said. “So we see great value in investing generously, and we do typically around $5 million in community investment, or if you included our larger sponsorships as well, it’s closer to $7 million or so on an annual basis. It’s certainly something we’re very proud of.”
While still waiting on drawings, Little Miners has the expertise of Timco Construction enlisted for the project, which is estimated to take about five months. Porter is confident that the daycare will open sometime next year.
“We don’t have an opening date yet, but it will be 2025,” she said, eagerly hoping for construction to begin in the next few weeks.
“Right now, basically we’re just waiting,” Porter said. “We have to get some more drawings done that we didn’t previously have. So that’s kind of the hold up with our construction, is to get these stamped drawings done for the inspector.”
As for upcoming events, the Little Miners Community Daycare is hosting a Family Christmas Party at the SN Boreen Community Centre on Dec. 20. For the low entry price of $5 per person, it’s going to be one busy all-ages fundraiser.
“It’s for all the family and other communities to come to,” Porter said. “We’re going to have a DJ, we’re going to have some games and some fun stuff for the kids. Santa Claus is going to show up sometime during the night, and then we’re going to have a canteen with chips and candy, juice boxes, and water for the kids, and we’re also getting it licensed, so then the adults can enjoy a drink or two as well.”
