Dear editor,I come from a mining family.I was a summer student in a mine before college. I was delighted to get work just out of school that paid a decent wage.In the early 1980s, I lived in Campbell River and was not happy with the work I was able to find. I heard that they were hiring women at Quintette Coal in Tumbler Ridge, so I moved there looking for a future in the mining industry.I had a great job at Quintette, and so did my husband. When operations ceased there, we moved back to Campbell River, where he still works in the mining industry.I have friends who when they realized there were no jobs for their children here, left the Island and now live in northern B.C. where the whole family is gainfully employed in mining. My friend went from being a baker in a grocery store to driving a 240-tonne truck (the same truck as I did starting out in my mining career).The Raven Coal Project won’t be built without environmental standards being met, and it’s the catalyst for economic diversity in the Comox Valley and region. The jobs and spinoff jobs and benefits it will bring will help to keep young families in the area with good pay.I would really like a future for our kids here on the Island that we now call home.Mary Ann Castle,Campbell River