At Nellie’s, we’re very fortunate to receive generous support from several corporations in our community. We’re forever grateful for this special group of donors who choose to give back to their community by helping us build a brighter future for women and their children facing violence, poverty, and homelessness. One of these companies is Atura Power, Ontario’s largest fleet of combined-cycle gas turbine power plants. Atura’s head office is in Oakville, but one of their four power plants across the province is the Portlands Energy Centre, located near Nellie’s.
Portlands Energy Centre had been operating long-before becoming part of Atura Power and employees there have long chosen to support Nellie’s by making a generous financial donation every year. This support was formalized in 2020 as part of Atura’s Community Citizenship Program, where employees at local facilities are encouraged to spearhead efforts in supporting community organizations, whether through financial or in-kind donations, or fundraising drives.
“We think we’re in a strong position to have a leadership role in helping build strong communities,” says Darius Sokal, Senior Communications & Stakeholder Relations Advisor at Atura. “We think that being part of a community means doing business the right way, which is responsibly and transparently — and also being engaged in the communities that are hosting us. We feel privileged that we’re able to do business in a specific community, and one of the ways we like to show that is by giving back and helping local causes.”
Darius explains that through their Community Citizenship Program, Atura supports local community organizations such as food banks, shelters, hospitals, and education and environmental initiatives. “We know that Nellie’s provides women and their children with a place to go if they need it, and a chance to get their back on their feet,” says Darius. “They line up very, very closely with the kind of organizations we want our efforts to go to.”
Not only does this community work resonate with the company as a whole, but on a personal level, Darius expresses how proud it makes him to see his employer giving back to the community. “[Working with our Community Citizenship Program] is probably the part of my job that I enjoy the most, and what I enjoy the most about it is knowing that our efforts do actually make a difference in the communities where we live and work.”
Thank you to Atura Power for being such amazing supporters of Nellie’s over the years!