In this challenging time we’re all trying to find our way, and one of the most common reactions is to want to reach out and help others. Of course with self-isolation that becomes increasingly problematic. Doing the right thing by isolating is counter-intuitive to many of our natural helping instincts. The news and social media are full of stories of people who have reached out to others.
Sure Flow is currently on reduced hours and we are being extremely vigilant in ensuring we are able to continue producing the products that are critical for so much of our infrastructure, from power generation and water treatment to the oil and gas industry.
We wrote this story about one of our activities “pre-COVID19” and we thought we’d share with visitors to the website. It reminds of how much many of us took things for granted prior to our current situation, and how many of us will return with a different perspective on priorities when things return to normal.
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One of the challenges of running a busy fabrication facility like Sure Flow’s is having all the materials required on hand, when they’re needed. While Sure Flow can do 97% of the fabrication and testing required for the industrial valves and strainers we provide for customers, there is still sometimes with a very specific task, such as heat treatment or rubber lining where we have to send the product out for work.
We generally use outside freight companies that specialize in hauling large freight for much of our shipping, but we also have a flatbed truck we use periodically for deliveries.
So, the demands on shipping staff and trucks can be a challenge. But sometimes we take the time to step back and find a minute when our crew can put some of our equipment to use outside of the corporate realm and into the charitable world.
Recently we were able to help a neighbouring manufacturer provide an assortment of goods to the Parkview Mission, that Sure Flow has been active in.
Voortman Bakery is one of Canada’s most successful bakers of high quality cookies. https://voortman.com/ Their plant is actually less than a minute’s drive from ours, and many days when the wind is blowing in the right direction, our parking lot smells like our grandmother’s kitchen on baking day. Everyone at Sure Flow looks forward to westerly wind… except those of us trying to cut back on cookies.
Recently Voortman had a large number of their cookies that they were able to donate to the Parkview Mission, which was amazing. The challenge was to get them there efficiently, since they were already on pallets. While they could have been hand loaded into smaller vehicles, this would have made infinitely more work.
When Sure Flow heard about the situation we freed up one of our flatbed trucks which allowed the pallets to be rolled right on to the truck. This saved an enormous amount of manual loading and made the whole operation run more smoothly.
The 10 pallets included an assortment of regular and sugar-free cookies, as well as some that were individually wrapped which will be beneficial for the Care Packages given out by Parkview Mission on Sunday nights.
The Voortman contribution was worth thousands of dollars, and our contribution seems minor in comparison. But we are very proud to have played a small part with another successful company that employs a great deal of local people and clearly has their heart in the right place.
Needless to say, it’s been hard for anyone working on the project to not be craving Voortman cookies, a lot. This writer for instance has every intention of picking up some of their “Almond Crunch” cookies, well, as soon as I leave the office! Sweet!
