Restoration and preservation – The historic Royal Oak School House was built in 1884 and operated as a public school until 1952. Since that time, it has served as a local meeting place for community groups and charities. In 2011 Mike Geric Construction restored the schoolhouse and re-opened it to the community. The schoolhouse is a beloved local landmark of historical significance and is now the rent-free home to the Saanich Neighbourhood Place, a non-profit helping families access resources and supports in their local community. Community groups also use the space free of charge.

Mike Geric Construction has a history of purchasing homes in our strata developments to maintain as rental housing in the community. This provides a more diverse housing mix and supports affordability in neighbourhoods. In addition, we work with non-profit housing providers to create below market affordable rental homes and have committed to combining market housing with a portion of affordable housing in all future development projects.

The Royal Oak Middle School and The South Island Distance Education School are both direct neighbours to the Travino development. As the schools have had needs, Mike Geric Construction has stepped up to help. SIDES received a $10,000 donation from Mike Geric Construction so that the school could replace their building sign, allowing the school to focus its resources for educational programming. Royal Oak Middle School received a $50,000 donation to the school library followed by another $50,000 donation to complete fundraising for a new playground. A strong relationship has been built with these and other local schools through donations, sustainable building tours and development and construction career sessions.

Edward Geric is the majority owner of the Saanich Predators Junior B Hockey Club. The team focuses on developing young athletes and preparing them for college, university, and furthering their competitive hockey careers.

The Junior hockey players are taught the importance of giving back to the community, which they do through teaching kids at local schools, bagging groceries at Christmas, shaving their heads for cancer and raising money at their annual Pink-in-the-Rink event to raise funds for local charities supporting cancer research. In addition, Mike Geric Construction is helping children who can’t afford to play hockey gain access to the sport. They work with the Big Brothers Big Sisters to provide a complete set of hockey gear and full registration fees for 10 children each year.

Mike Geric Construction recently contributed $5,000 to this elite team that receives no government funding and relies on private donations to fund their program.

Mike Geric Construction is a regular contributor to community events that bring people together to enjoy arts, culture, sports and community. They make an annual donation to the Royal Oak Music in the Park Program, which they have supported for 10 years. They are also strong supporters of the Victoria Harbour Cats, who they sponsor for $7,000 per year. In 2018 Mike Geric Construction helped the Harbour Cats with updates to their Main Grandstand seating area.

Part of building great communities is building safe communities. A new streetlight was installed at the corner of Viewmont and West Saanich road to ensure safer journeys for years to come.