Giving Day and giving back

Travis Gallup grew up on the Bar 44 Ranch, his family’s farm near Water Valley, AB, and spent six years working as a ranch hand for his parents. His experiences on the ranch distilled an unshakeable work ethic in him — there is no cutting corners when helping to birth calves in -40°C weather.   

The same is true for Gallup today as he develops safety protocols for leading Canadian dairy company Lactalis Canada.   

Last October, as part of SAIT’s annual Giving Day campaign, Gallup made his first-ever donation to SAIT. He sees his gift in support of the Real Futures campaign — a fundraising initiative raising $150 million to transform how, who and what SAIT teaches — as a way of giving back to the school that helped him succeed.   

“I wanted to help pave the way for students’ successes,” he says. “It's so important to give back so hard-working students have everything they need to get the most out of their education.”   

In 1940, Gallup's great-grandmother graduated from the Calgary Normal School — the training facility for Alberta primary and secondary school teachers that shared Heritage Hall for decades — and his father graduated from Power Engineering Technology in 1977. When he reflects on this generational connection with SAIT and why he made the decision to honour that connection through philanthropy, Gallup says it's a mentality instilled in him through family. 

“I get that ingrained in me by my parents — being charitable and being of service,” he says. “Whether it’s SAIT or something else, I just want to pay it forward and help others.”