VAN – On March 5, Imagine Canada, a national charitable organization that looks into and out for Canada’s charities and non-profit organizations, celebrated the year’s most outstanding partnerships between Canadian businesses and non-profit organizations.

The Canadian Business & Community Partnership Awards recognize innovative collaborations between leading businesses and their non-profit partners. These partnerships, which involve more than financial-only support, demonstrate the leadership and commitment of everyone involved. Both parties engage in project design, oversight and implementation.

The Salvation Army was recognized, along with its partners SaskEnergy and Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, for its work with the Share the Warmth: Home Energy Efficiency Project.

About the Partnership: The goal of this partnership is to improve the energy efficiency in the homes of low-income Saskatchewan families, especially during challenging winters. Families benefit with lower energy costs while learning about simple and inexpensive home energy efficiency options. Program partners and other community volunteers come together to perform energy efficiency upgrades in low-income homes in both urban and rural communities throughout Saskatchewan. Share the Warmth program has helped 974 families to become more energy efficient. The program goal is to help 2,500 Saskatchewan families by the year 2010.