SaskTel, high school students, SaskTel Pioneers and other partners team up for Haiti

June 1, 2010

Today SaskTel employees, high school students and others have gathered at a SaskTel warehouse to fill a 40-foot shipping container with medical supplies, personal hygiene products, tents, hand-made teddy bears and other donated items for Haiti earthquake relief.

SaskTel, the SaskTel Pioneers volunteer organization, Scott Collegiate, Michael A. Riffel High School, Nutana Collegiate, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, STC, Coutts Courier, Can-Do Delivery Services, Body Fuel Organics, Regina Soccer Pitch, Teddies for Tragedies and William Booth Special Care Home are among the partners teaming up to ensure the success of this latest container mission. This will be the eighth SaskTel-sponsored container sent to a developing nation since 2006.

“Months after the devastating earthquake of January 12th, the people of Haiti continue the struggle to rebuild their lives,” said Don Morgan, Minister Responsible for SaskTel. “This second Saskatchewan container will provide some of the necessities of life to people who have been displaced from their homes.”

“We’re grateful to the many partners who have joined forces with SaskTel to send two containers filled with donated items to Haiti,” said Robert Watson, SaskTel President and CEO. “Every bit helps and we wish the people of Haiti well as they continue to recover.”

“The SaskTel Pioneers have been proud to assist with SaskTel’s many container projects over the past four years,” said Raylene Wellman, President of the SaskTel Pioneers. “Our members appreciate the opportunity to help people in need whether they live in Saskatchewan or in developing nations.

”The SaskTel Pioneers set up collection sites around the province for employee donations. SaskTel will cover all costs associated with renting and shipping the container to Haiti, which will amount to approximately $10,000. The container is expected to arrive in approximately 90 days and the contents will be distributed in a temporary community housing displaced residents from other locations in Haiti.

This is the eighth shipment in a larger SaskTel-led initiative to help communities in need in the developing world as a result of poverty, disease, war, displacement and other challenges

About SaskTel

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel) is the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan, with $1.15 billion in annual revenue and more than 1.4 million customer connections including more than 550,000 wireless accesses, 543,000 wireline network accesses, 225,000 Internet accesses and 77,000 Max™ (TV) subscribers. SaskTel offers a wide range of communications products and services including competitive voice, data, Internet, entertainment, national security, messaging, cellular, wireless data and directory services. In addition, SaskTel International offers software solutions and project consulting in countries around the world. In 2009, SaskTel contributed more than $651 million to the Saskatchewan economy through dollars spent with Saskatchewan-based suppliers and sponsorships to non-profit organizations. SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 4,800 employees. Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.

About the SaskTel Pioneers

The SaskTel Pioneers Chapter 59 is an award-winning chapter of the largest industry-based volunteer organization in North America. There are 4,700 members in Saskatchewan consisting of present and past SaskTel employees. Serving the province for 62 years, SaskTel Pioneers volunteer their time, talents, and skills for over 100 ongoing community projects every year. In 2009, the SaskTel Pioneers contributed over $200,000 in charitable donations and 68,000 hours of volunteer time. Visit the SaskTel Pioneers at www.sasktelpioneers.com.

For more information, please contact:

Andy Tate
SaskTel Media Relations
(306) 777-4548
andy.tate@sasktel.com

See Backgrounder for more details.