Local meal services receive welcome donation

For more than 125 years, Hecla has been a part of Shoshone County, they have seen the height of the community as well as the low, as businesses and other organizations have folded due to economic hardship.

Once again the Hecla Charitable Foundation has stepped up to help out their community with donations to two worthwhile causes.

Silver Valley Meals on Wheels serves a large portion of the senior community in Shoshone County and they received $2,000 from Hecla Charitable, which will help them stay the course as they feed our local elderly.

“This will keep our shelves stocked,” said Darrell Lemieux, Silver Valley Meals on Wheels director. “We’re trying to grow here and we just want to feed people who need it.”

The Wallace Food Bank has been operating under different mantles for some time now, but instead of just acting as a traditional food bank that physically hands out food, they also provide vouchers for patrons to use at local grocery stores.

The $4,500 that they are receiving from Hecla will be put to good use to provide those vouchers.

“With our setup we don’t have the ability to do fresh or perishable foods, so the vouchers help with those things,” said Pastor Art Fleming. “We don’t know where things are going to be over the next few months, so we sure appreciate this.”

The Wallace Food Bank provides food for anywhere between 70 and 80 families monthly.

Michelle Horning, a human resources manager with Hecla, who recently took over the job of presenting these donations following the retirement of Mike Dexter, was thrilled to be donating to two such worthy causes.

“We are very pleased that we are able to help these organizations that support the residents of the Silver Valley,” Horning said. “They both, along with many others, provide an invaluable service to those in need in our communities, especially during this particularly difficult time.”

Hecla Mining Company prides itself on developing a close relationship with the communities in which it operates, understanding local issues and concerns, providing a safe work environment and good paying jobs.

In many cases, these jobs are multi-generational, as in the case of the Silver Valley in North Idaho, where Hecla has operated for more than 126 years.

Seeing the need to smooth out the company’s community giving efforts, Hecla President and CEO Phil Baker, with support of the company's Board of Directors, created the Hecla Charitable Foundation in 2007, which was initially seeded with company stock.

“The foundation’s mission is to enhance the quality of life and to promote the social, environmental, and economic sustainability and development of those communities where Hecla has operations and activities,” Baker said.

While the roller-coaster of metal prices makes mine planning and operations challenging, it also impacts a company’s ability to contribute to many worthwhile projects, as low metal prices often lead to budget cuts.

Within this overall mission, the Hecla Charitable Foundation focuses its efforts in four areas: education, community programs, youth activities and health services.

In 2009, the very first grants were awarded from the foundation, which has now grown from the initial stock advances and some periodic cash infusions to a self-sustained program with more than $6 million asset value.

Since the initial grants were awarded, the company has given more than $2.4 million to worthwhile community endeavors in Idaho, Alaska and Colorado with more than 50 percent of that invested in Idaho.