The spirit of giving is alive and well in Cochrane, and that was made abundantly clear yesterday with a generous surprise donation made to the Helping Hands Society of Cochrane and Area.

The hefty donation was courtesy of the Cochrane and Area Events Society (CAES), another local non-profit whose sole mission is to promote community togetherness and spirit.

Helping Hands Executive Director, Chairra Nicolle says they were completely blown away by the unexpected surprise.

"It was super exciting!" says Nicolle "We were honoured to be [selected as Labour Day] Parade Marshalls. The Cochrane and Area Events Society reached out [yesterday] and said they just wanted to meet, then they came by the office and presented us with over $2100 from the profits of the business floats in the parade."

The Labour Day Parade is a long-standing tradition here in town that made a big comeback this year after scaling back last year's event due to COVID. Several Cochrane businesses entered floats in the parade that ran along Centre Avenue, Railway Street and First Street and Nicolle says those proceeds came full circle.

"The businesses in the community paid to have their float in the parade and these are the profits from that," explains Nicolle. "So They just donated it right back into the community which is fantastic and one of the reasons I love Cochrane so much."

Nicolle says the generous donation will go a long way towards helping them with both new and ongoing initiatives.

"We're very excited to have that [donation] because as the community knows we are fundraising for a van," explains Nicolle. "We also always need donations for our programs to keep those going; to stock the [free food] shed and all of that."

The volunteer linking organization relies completely on donations and grants to stay afloat and assist with so many community needs.