Members of the Thorpe Brothers Ltd. pose for a picture with the Feel the Love program recipient Lanette Ernst. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Giving Back

P.A. resident recognized for volunteer work in the community

Oct 23, 2021 | 10:00 AM

A Prince Albert resident is being recognized for her work in the community after she was awarded a free furnace installation.

Prince Albert resident, Lanette Ernst, won the free installation due to a program done by Lennox called “Feel the Love,” which supports families and individuals in communities who would benefit from newly installed heating equipment.

“I was nominated by someone in the community that felt I deserved to have a new furnace installed in my house as a thank you for all the work that I do in the community,” she said.

Ernst is a volunteer firefighter at the Buckland Fire Department and helped fight fires during the Cloverdale Fire for four days in May. She is new to being a board member for the P.A. Safe Shelter for Women and said she was asked to join by the executive director who was leaving and thought she would be a good fit.

Ernst said she needed a new furnace and said it was very humbling to be chosen for the installation.

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“I was quite surprised by the nomination and taken aback by it. I don’t do what I do for recognition. I’ve been a firefighter for 13 years now. I just do it because I love it and I want to give back to the community,” Ernst explained.

Colin Thorpe with Thorpe Brothers Ltd. who sell and install Lennox products said Lennox has been doing this program for three years in Canada, but this is their first year being involved in it.

“This is our 75^th anniversary of being in business so I thought that it was a good opportunity to kind of give back,” Thorpe said. “I knew of the program and just thought it’s something I want to be a part of, thank our community for supporting us for a lot of years and do something for somebody who also gives back to the community.”

Members of the Thorpe Brother installing the furnace for Lanette Ernst. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

Thorpe added Ernst had a busy year with the forest fires close to the community so when he saw her name, he thought it was a great opportunity to help her.

“That Buckland Fire Department she works for worked pretty hard. They were able to save all the homes and a big part of that was due to the efforts of people like Lanette and the volunteer fire department,” he explained.

The Thorpe Brothers hope to make this an annual initiative and urge residents to keep their eyes open for worthy recipients for next year.

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12