All those dollars from admission fees at Kennecott Utah Copper’s visitors center don’t go into the pit.
Instead, the Bingham Canyon Mine Visitors Center Charitable Foundation donates them to various causes, this year reaching a record $195,000 to 122 local charities.
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Bingham Mine Visitors Center Charitable Foundation
To be considered for a charitable donations from the Bingham Canyon Mine Visitors Center Charitable Foundation, proposals must be received by Oct. 15 of each year. Applications are at www.kennecott.com.
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One of those charities is Magna FACT — Families, Agencies and Communities Together— a volunteer group that helps families in need. The foundation helped the organization get started in 2004 and has provided thousands of dollars every year since, said Kathy Webb, a volunteer.
"We could not survive without it," she said. "It’s helped enormously with the families we serve every day."
Magna FACT provides a variety of services to needy families, including emergency money to help with a job loss, cover utility bills or pay for clothing and shelter. The group serves about 300 families a year, Webb said.
Besides visitor fees, the foundation receives money from the Copperton Lions Club and from purchases at the visitors center gift shop. Kennecott covers the foundation’s costs, so all fees and donations go to local causes, according to Brian Davis, a Kennecott employee who is secretary of the foundation.
"The foundation is organized as a nonprofit exclusively for pubic welfare, community improvement and charitable purposes," Davis said.
Since its reopening in 1992, the visitors center has hosted more than 3 million visitors. As result, the foundation has donated more than $2.6 million to local community charities and nonprofit organizations. The foundation focuses on programs for children, veterans and seniors, as well as to residents who are disabled, homeless or poor.
"Some of the money has gone as far as southern Utah County," Davis said, "and some of it has gone as far north as Logan."
Last year, the visitors center had a record 178,171 visitors. Contributing to that number was a 10-day special event in July in which visitors were able to visit the Bingham Canyon Mine for free. Kennecott reimbursed the foundation for the loss in revenue from the more than 29,000 guests who attended.
Kennecott also has a separate corporate giving program.
The foundation is governed by nine trustees who represent the greater Salt Lake area and Kennecott Utah Copper, which is owned by Rio Tinto, an international mining company based in London. Trustees represent local government, education, religion and communities.
Applications for the program are available at www.kennecott.com. Webb said the foundation demands an accounting of where its money has gone every year.
"They really do check to know where their money is going," Webb said.
The visitors center is open seven days a week from April to October, weather permitting. Admission this year is $5 for passenger vehicles, $25 for mini-tour buses and $50 for tour buses. There is no charge for school buses, veterans groups, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts in uniform, and vans from county-operated senior citizen centers.
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