It had been a difficult year for the 56 remaining employees at the Troy Mine. Their company had halted operations due to geological shifting. Three-fourths of their co-workers had been laid off. And their initial efforts to carve a new, safer passage to the ore bodies proved unsuccessful.

Christmas bonuses were out of the question. Many of the seasonal frills that Revett Minerals, Inc., could afford when the mine was operating had to be put aside as the company conserved cash to pay for a $12 million construction project that may allow them to restart operations about a year from now.

Bonuses might seem like a small matter in the grand scheme of things. But what the Troy Mine employees did with those bonuses last year was anything but trivial: They pooled their money and contributed $6,170 to local food pantries, an amount that was matched twice over by Revett Minerals and Revett’s board of directors for a total donation of $18,510.

Even though there would be no bonus check this year, the Troy Mine employees got together and decided to give a portion of their regular paychecks to the food banks once again. They knew they wouldn’t be able to match their donation of the previous year, when about 200 employees contributed. So, they did some rudimentary math and set a goal of raising $1,200.

It seemed like a reasonable goal based on the percentage of employees still on staff. But, then again, never underestimate the generosity of community-minded people during the holidays.

When it was all said and done, the employees had raised $2,000, nearly doubling their goal. One employee contributed $500.

Revett Minerals had set aside $1,000 as a match, but increased it to $2,000 after seeing how much money the employees had raised. Humbled by the whole experience, Revett’s board of directors kicked in another $2,000 out of their own pockets.

Carole Armstrong, the administration manager at the Troy Mine, was in charge of notifying the employees and collecting the donations. She was surprised to see such a small number of employees contribute so much money. “We’re so proud of our employees,” Armstrong said. “None of this would have happened if they didn’t put it all together.”

This year, the money was split three ways among the Libby, Troy and Noxon food pantries. Each food bank received a check for $2,000 last week.

Kathy Lauer of the Libby Food Pantry said her organization has come to rely on the annual donation from the Troy Mine employees. “I think it’s fantastic,” Lauer said. “We basically live on that money for quite a while. The donations get pretty sparse after the holidays.”

None of the Revett executives or employees I spoke with would expound on their own generosity. Instead, they made it sound like no big deal. The food pantries need donations, so they do what they can. Simple as that.

But with at least one more lean year ahead and an uncertain financial future, it couldn’t have been easy to lop off a chunk of a paycheck for charity as the holidays approached. Not easy at all.

The great thing about the holiday season is that the 56 employees at the Troy Mine are not alone. Countless other people in our communities quietly contribute as much as they can to make sure others have a reason to celebrate – and that doesn’t change just because times get tough.

It truly is a merry Christmas in Lincoln County.

(Matt Bunk is publisher of The Western News.)