TransCanada has donated $10,000 to be used for construction of a multi-purpose building at the LSU AgCenter’s Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center near Pollock, La. From left to right are Eric Eskew, Louisiana 4-H Foundation Director; Catherine Segura, Louisiana 4-H Foundation board member; Ed Guillotte, TransCanada area manager; Nicky Smith, TransCanada offshore asset manager; and Bryan Ronsonet, TransCanada measurement specialist. (Photo by Bruce Schultz. Click on photo for downloadable image.)

News Release Distributed 08/19/11

LAFAYETTE, La. – A $10,000 donation by TransCanada Corporation will help fund construction of a multi-purpose building at the LSU AgCenter Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center near Pollock, La.

“TransCanada believes in supporting local associations and organizations which serve as community assets in empowering individuals, building strong communities and creating effective citizens,” said Ed Guillotte, TransCanada area manager.

A number of TransCanada employees and their families in Louisiana are involved in 4-H activities, Guillotte said.

The multipurpose building is a top priority project for Grant Walker, said Louisiana 4-H Foundation director Eric Eskew.

“When 4-H summer camp is at full capacity, there is not a building on site that can hold everyone at one time,” Eskew said. “This has become a major issue, especially during inclement weather. This donation from the TransCanada Corporation is another step toward building a new, multi-purpose building at 4-H camp – a building that thousands of youth will use each year.

“It is extremely exciting to work with companies like TransCanada that believe in the importance of 4-H and the educational impact it has on the youth of Louisiana,” he added.

4-H Camp is an educational program of the LSU AgCenter, attended each summer by approximately 4,000 youths in fourth through sixth grades from all 64 Louisiana parishes. The rest of the year, the Grant Walker center hosts numerous other programs for junior high and high school-age youths.

Nicky Smith, TransCanada offshore assets manager in Lafayette, said he attended Camp Grant Walker as a boy for two summers.

“The first time I went was the first time I’d been away from home with a bunch of other kids,” he recalled. “The biggest thing I enjoyed back then was the activities like canoeing, swimming and archery.”

Smith said he got involved in 4-H with a swine project in St. Landry Parish and later in Evangeline Parish.

TransCanada operates one of the most sophisticated pipeline systems in the world, with 35,000 miles of wholly owned pipelines and shared ownership of another 7,000 miles. The system moves 15 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in the U.S. and Canada. In Louisiana, the corporation has 55 employees at offices in Lafayette, Patterson, Grand Chenier, Eunice, Jena, Delhi and West Monroe.