Gallery: Skyjack Telehandler Helps United Way Slide in Guelph
Skyjack donated a VR1056E telehandler to the United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, to help the organization kick off its 2015 fundraising campaign with a splash. On Sept. 12, United Way hosted “Slide of Your Life”, a 1,000-foot-long water slide event down the middle of Norwich St. in Guelph. Skyjack donated the telehandler to help expedite the slide removal from the busy downtown street.
“The Skyjack telehandler made our cleanup efforts much simpler,” said Colleen Murdoch, communications director at United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin. “I don’t know if it would have been possible to lift the slide section with only human power.”
Skyjack donated the telehandler to help remove the slid as part of its 30 for 30 Partners campaign, a charity campaign honoring the company’s 30 years in business.
The United Way had only a short time to clear the street to allow traffic to resume in the heart of downtown Guelph. The slide was broken down into 11 pieces that were 100 feet long and weighed about 1,200 pounds each. The VR1056E telehandler’s lifting capacity of 10,000 pounds made moving the pieces onto a trailer – which would have required 10 to 12 people to do – an easy task.
“Thanks to Skyjack’s support, we were able to clear the street and reopen it for drivers in less time than anticipated,” Murdoch said.
Now in its 75th year of operation, United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin serves 95 local service programs and has raised $48 million for the community.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.