St. Davids company gives an employee a brand new car

A St. Davids employee is now the proud owner of a new car, thanks to the company which employs him.

Rojin Kunjachan, who works for SunOpta in its production faculty as a process machine operator, won the company’s Driving Success Sweepstakes contest for their employees in a draw that took place Tuesday afternoon. The prize was a brand new black Buick Enclave from Niagara Motors.

Kunjachan, 38, and now living in St. Catharines, came to Canada from the southern part of India in May, 2022. His wife, a health care worker, was here three years before that as an international, but the COVID outbreak delayed and other issues delayed them being reunited. move to Canada.

He and his wife now have a daughter, eight, and a son just a year old.

His English is not great, so SunOpta emailed some questions to him, and “suspecting” his wife was translating for him, said Claudine Galloway, the company’s communications director, shared his answers with The Local.

SunOpta, said Galloway, was his first job placement in Canada and “it is like a second home to him.”

“We enjoy the high standard of life, universal healthcare system and I love the multicultural aspect of Canada,” he said in his email.

He said winning the car was “a dream come true and an unforgettable moment in our life. I thank the Lord Almighty for all the blessings, all glory and honour is to him.”

He also said that he and his family “are so grateful to the entire SunOpta team for giving me an opportunity to participate in the draw.”

He came to Canada, he said in the email, because it offers better career opportunities, particularly in technology, healthcare and skilled trades.

“Before coming here I was working in a company in Muscat, Oman. My wife is a healthcare professional. For better career opportunities and financial stability, we moved here.”

SunOpta, he said, “gave me a good working environment, I love working here. It's the best place to work and helped me to grow career-wise. This is the first job in Canada and I am glad that I came to the right place.”

He also thanked several people from the company in his email: Becky Goertz (HR  manager), Parneet Kaur (production manager), Greg Dunk (plant director), and supervisors and coworkers "for all their support and guidance."

SunOpta, which bought Niagara Natural fruit snacks on Four Mile Creek Road about 10 years ago, said in a news release the draw is “recognizing its employees who have been the driving force behind the company’s success in the past year,” and that one lucky employee at each manufacturing plant location would be driving away with a brand new vehicle thanks to its sweepstakes grand prize drawings.

Gallaway explained that SunOpta has a monthly incentive program for its employees who are eligible to win “a high-value prize, such as big-screen TVs, Traeger grills, washer-dryer sets and more.”

Employees who were entered in the monthly drawings in 2024 were also entered in the Driving Success Sweepstakes grand prize vehicle drawing for each month they qualified for the monthly drawing.

“It’s an amazing program, and we’re proud to make it happen in an effort to celebrate the 2024 year, kick off 2025, and recognize and thank our employees who have been the driving force behind the company’s success in the past year,” said Galloway. “SunOpta is all about the people, we have great employees and are proud of what we do!”