This winter's skating at the BDO Centre in Portage la Prairie's been covered by Simplot. Simplot Unit Director Audrey Comte says they're proud to help.

"Simplot is sponsoring the public skating here on Sundays from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30. It's something we felt aligned with our Simplot value to promote the family, community, and physical fitness. So, this is something that we really wanted to do and we're proud to do as part of the community, and representing the family and the community at Simplot."

Centennial Community Club President Shane Moffatt shares his appreciation for the assistance.

"We had The Bank of Nova Scotia do this before, and now Simplot's helping us. Everybody knows we're on our own to run this facility. We do it strictly from donations from the community, and donations from businesses like Simplot. We get not help from the City Hall, so we thank everybody for the support. Without it, the kids wouldn't have a place to play hockey and skate. I've been involved in this for eight years now, and we were always on the road. And now the kids get to stay at home, and it's great to see."

Skating starts November 6th. You can visit BDO's website and you can find all the free public skating schedules including the Sticks and Pucks program, which is also free skating for the children.

Comte adds, "We're proud of the company and the people and the community. So, it's showing commitment to the community and the right things we want to be a part of."

"For the BDO Centre it is a great gesture for Simplot to come forward, to not only help our community and help out our youth, it's great to have free skating for the kids. We have to thank them and it shows another business that came forward to give us a hand and help keep the BDO open."

Free skating schedules found here:

Websites: Simplot free skating. 

Sticks and Pucks Free skating.