Impark Donates $100,000 in Equipment and Service

The project will see "Donation Stations" installed at specific parks in the GVRD. The "Donation Stations" invite park visitors to donate money to special park projects on the spot. Examples of such projects are: Rebuilding an observation tower or playground, supporting a youth program, restoring historic buildings, developing a brown site into a usable park, as well as the usual ecological projects you see in the regional parks.

Parking Machines

Impark is providing ten parking machines that will be used as "Donation Stations" and is providing support services for the project, a donation valued at $100,000. The Foundation, working with the GVRD and with local park organizations is selecting sites where park enhancements or special projects are to be undertaken.

The mandate of the Pacific Parklands Foundation is to raise funds to improve and expand the GVRD Park system. It is an umbrella organization that works with the volunteer Park Partners and with GVRD Parks to identify areas that need development for recreation, education and nature conservation. The Pacific Parklands Foundation is inspired by the belief that parks and natural spaces play a critical role in the quality of community life.



"We are very pleased to be involved in this project," says Impark President & COO, Bryan Wallner. "We want to work with the community and see the parks in the GVRD continuously improved. Park groups, visitors and neighbours are always asking for ways to improve our parks. We are pleased to be able to help. By using our state of the art technology, we can create, install and monitor "Donation Stations" for the Pacific Parklands Foundation."

The first "Donation Station" will be installed at Colony Farm Park. "What a great idea to solicit funds and let people know what we are doing in Regional Parks," says Elaine Golds, Chair of the Colony Farm Park Association. Liz Thunstrom, a member of the Colony Farm Park Association agrees, "We are very pleased to see these donation boxes go ahead. I have seen similar ideas in other places and have used them."

"We fully support this fundraising initiative," says Marg Anderson, President of the Burnaby Lake Park Association (BLPA), another park that will have a "Donation Station" on-site. "We would like to thank PPF and Imperial Parking for their offer of help and support in fundraising for this worthwhile project. Not only does this initiative inform the visitors of our park about our ongoing projects, it offers them an opportunity to be a part of them. We look forward to the time when, with public support, we can begin to build a new multiple use, easy access tower for all to enjoy."

"We are very grateful to Impark for its generous donation," says Pacific Parklands Foundation Chairman, John Scott. "The Foundation's mission, is to work with park volunteers to raise funds to help protect, enhance and expand GVRD Regional Parks. We source funding from private individuals and the corporate sector for the volunteer driven projects in the parks. We then work together with GVRD to develop the project. It is through the help of corporations like Imperial Parking that we are able to achieve our goals."

Impark's donation is part of a "green program" that the company implemented earlier this year. The program also includes the use of Smart Cars by employees who spend a lot of time travelling around the GVRD to client sites.