Just over a week into the new year, Dorie's House Treatment Centre received a surprising five-figure donation from a prairie-based insurance company.

Last Monday the youth shelter announced on social media they'd been gifted a $10,000 donation by Winnipeg's Wawanesa Insurance.

The Swift Current charitable organization appeared on Wawanesa Insurance's radar after a current employee who spent time living in the city shared the funding struggle Dorie's House has endured.

"Ultimately we're just happy to be able to contribute to the project so that youth have a place to go that's safe and supportive at a critical time in a young person's life," Eva Kovacs, spokesperson for Wawanesa Insurance, said. "We appreciate the individual who brought this forward and we're just really happy we could make a difference in Swift Current."

The company, founded in 1896, has a charitable giving program that focuses on five sectors; social services, health, arts and culture, education, and community activities.

"Looking after one another is at the heart of who we are at Wawanesa," she said. "That's why we're so proud that we're able to support Dorie's House so that they can provide youth in the community a place that they can turn when they need it the most."

Kovacs shared that Shaun Hanna, the president of the southwest youth emergency shelter, reached out to the insurance company thanking them for their large donation.