On May 14th, 2016 some of the Willows team members had the rewarding opportunity to help fulfill the dreams of 3 amazing kids who are currently fighting for their lives as they battle cancer. The 3 kids arrived in the Stewart Greens Community on the west end of Edmonton around 10am when they were greeted by some of the Willows team members along with 4 of their favourite pieces of heavy equipment. Each of the kids were outfitted with their own personal hardhat, coveralls and safety glasses (all theirs to keep!) to ensure they looked the part of “Bob the Builder.” Then the kids were shown the life-size version of their favourite sandbox toys; a excavator, dozer, rock truck and motorgrader. It sure didn’t take long for them to find the horn button! After a short musical performance using only the horns, engines were barking and the kids were safely secured on the equipment operators’ lap. They were given the opportunity to operate the equipment – making sure they pushed all the buttons and pulled on all the levers of course!
After working hard all morning moving dirt around in the heavy equipment and only stopping for a quick “cookie break” the kids were welcomed to a lunch filled with Pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream sandwiches to ensure the kids had enough energy to go back to work! After moving some more dirt around the young kids started to really get into their roles of equipment operators by not being shy to grab the radio and tell their fellow ‘builders’ that they “dumped in the wrong spot.” Once all the hard work was done the day officially came to an end but not before the kids were presented small replicas of the equipment they operated from our generous sponsors. Willows Construction (2001) Ltd. could not have made this day possible without all its partners including Kids With Cancer Society, Troika Developments, Finning Canada, Martin Deereline, ConTrac Equipment, and all the Willows volunteers that helped make this day unforgettable for the Kids involved. Thank you!