Buddhist Centre closer to boiler replacement thanks to local union volunteers

Union helps Buddhist Centre fundraise A local union helped the Buddhist Centre of Regina towards replacing its boiler. Cole Davenport explains.

REGINA — The Buddhist Centre of Regina is closer to its goal of replacing a faulty boiler, thanks to some volunteers from a local union.

The centre is currently being heated by a natural gas construction heater, while fundraising efforts to replace the buildings boiler that broke in December continue.

"It's livable, we don't have to walk around in parkas and toques,” said Ken Crowe, a patron of the Buddhist Centre of Regina. “It's coming together really, really nicely."

Since the centre’s initial call for support, thousands of dollars have been raised. Donations have come from around the world, including a major portion from the Chinese community, locally and overseas, who have raised about half of the total funds so far.

“Some people they're not rich, they send me like ten or twenty yuan which is like a few bucks, but it's a lot of touching stories and we really appreciate that," said Bo Ling, another patron of the centre.

But the donations are not all monetary, with a number of local tradespeople lending their time to help move the old boiler on Friday. The group included pipe fitters, insulators and electricians from Unifor local 594.

“They came and they dismantled everything and took it out in pieces, hauled it away, sold it for scrap, and donated the scrap money back to the temple,” said Crowe.

The space is now open and ready for installation of the new boiler.

The union says it is willing to help install the new equipment, whenever that may be. Patrons of the centre say the work from the volunteers has been an immense help and a major step towards replacement.

The centre plans to move ahead in purchasing its new boiler on Monday, to be installed at a later date.