For every cremation in Williams Lake 10 trees will be planted, said Shane Gunn, general manager of Cariboo Chilcotin Funeral Service.
“When we put in a proposal to operate Five Rivers Crematorium for the city, that was part of our plan,” Gunn said the day after city council approved a three-year contract with the company. “We’ve partnered with Forests For Tomorrow, a provincial program, to plant trees in areas devastated by pine beetle and forest fires.”
It’s important with any partnership or business model to include an environmental give-back component, Gunn added.
Cariboo Chilcotin Funeral Service is a new joint venture between Gunn who has operated funeral services in the Cariboo-Chilcotin based out of 100 Mile House, Luc LaPrairie of LaPrairie’s Alternative Funeral Services in Williams Lake, and Dave Wilson who has managed the crematorium since it was built in 2002.
Wilson will be the on site crematorium manager.
“We’re trying to revert the crematorium back to its original name of Five Rivers Crematorium because that’s the name the Sikh community gave when it was originally constructed,” Gunn said.
La Prairie said theirs is one of the best joint ventures Williams Lake has seen in a long time.