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Drumheller organizations receive provincial support for food banks, security

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The Salvation Army Food Bank and Town of Drumheller Community Development and Social Planning department were among the recipients to receive funding for food banks and food security programs announced by the Alberta provincial government on Tuesday, April 11.
Alberta’s government announced in November 2022 it would provide a total of $20 million in funding over a two year period to support food banks and food security programs across the province; a total of $10 million has been distributed to some 210 organizations.
“We are seeing new clients on the regular,” shares Community and Family Services coordinator Amanda Courtenay of The Salvation Army. “Most of (our new clients) are singles and couples without children.”
The Salvation Army Food Bank received a total of $8,000 as part of the provincial funding, a majority of which helped to purchase produce and other perishable food items, such as milk and eggs, for food hampers. It also helped to purchase non-perishable food items which will help stock the shelves of the food bank.
“Last (fiscal) year, between April and April, we had just over 40,000 pounds of food go out the door,” explains Ms. Courtenay. “That equates to about $130,000 worth of food.”
She says, during the same period, just shy of 900 food hampers were sent out to people in need in the community-about on par with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, not including Christmas; if the food bank had to purchase every item put in the hamper, the $8,000 received would have equated to a little under a month’s worth of food.
“Those folks who find themselves in that situation (of needing the food bank), especially those who find themselves in that situation for the first time, it’s extremely hard for them to walk through that door,” says Major Robert Burrell of The Salvation Army.
The Community Development and Social Planning (CDSP) department also received a total of $50,000 in funding, which will help support development of food security programs in the community.
CDSP manager April Harrison shares $15,000 of this funding will help to re-establish its hot meals for older adults program, which is in partnership with Freson Bros. The hot meals program is currently being finalized, and the department will reach out to previous program participants in the Drumheller and Starland County areas once it is relaunched.
Ms. Harrison is hopeful the funding will allow the program to run until at least the fall, and the department will continue to apply for grants and look for other support to help keep this program running continuously.
A second program will also be established using the remaining $35,000 of funding, targeted to help people in need from a food security perspective. CDSP is working with local businesses and grocery stores to develop this program, and Ms. Harrison says she anticipates program details will be announced in early May.
“When this grant came up, this was not a chance we wanted to pass up,” Ms. Harrison says. “It helps us help people a little bit more.”
A trend both The Salvation Army and CDSP have noticed is an increased need for services among Drumheller’s single and couples without children populations.
The provincial government announced the Alberta Affordability Action Plan in January 2023, which provides relief payments to help struggling Albertans with the rising cost of living due to inflation. However, this plan targeted seniors over 65, people with disabilities, and families with children under the age of 18, leaving single people and couples without children ineligible for much of these supports.
Ms. Harrison adds the Drumheller Poverty Reduction Alliance, a non-profit group established in 2019 with the goal of preventing people from falling into the cycle of poverty, and pulling those already in the cycle out of poverty, is looking for ways to support those struggling in the community. She adds food security plays an integral role in poverty reduction and encourages anyone who is interested in helping out, getting involved, or learning more about the Poverty Reduction Alliance to contact her directly at 403-823-1315.


CanSat Challenge highlights space careers

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Lawrence Reeves from the Canadian Satelite Design Challenge Management Society was at DVSS on Friday, April 21 and spoke with Ms. Gill’s Grade 8 Science Class.
The CanSat Design Challenge is a program which challenges secondary school and university students to design and launch a small satellite. For secondary scholars, a pop can-size satellite. This offers space-themed competitions to advance knowledge and capability in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) students. Reeves spoke about the space industry and all the fields students could enter to be involved in it.
Typical perceptions dictate it is often for engineers, but there are many other fields. Reeves was in the valley along with seven teams mostly from Vancouver and Toronto to take part in the second year of the challenge. Initially, they were planning to use DVSS as a site for a drop, and then do a launch at Sponden.
However, because of fire concerns, had to travel from Drumheller to east of Lethbridge for the challenge.

Valley Bus Society contracts services to Bubba T's

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Valley Bus will be transitioning its services to help better serve the community effective as of Monday, May 1, with the non-profit Valley Bus Society contracting transportation and dispatch services to Bubba T’s Bus Tours and Shuttle Service.
Although Bubba T’s will be taking over service operations, the Valley Bus Society board will continue to remain active in the community and will put its focus on fundraising to help offset and manage costs.
“Contracting (the services) out will leave more time for the board to do fundraising and those kinds of efforts,” says Valley Bus Society President Ron Tremblay. “Instead of being split in two directions and going nowhere, we can focus our efforts on one direction.”
Valley Bus was started in 1984 when The Royal Purple and the Elks clubs got together and bought the first handibus for the community. Operations of the service were handed over to the Town of Drumheller during the early days prior to the formation of the Valley Bus Society, which has maintained operations since.
Over the last several years, the Valley Bus Society has run into challenges as ridership-the main source of revenue-began to dwindle around 2018 to 2019.
Town Councillor Tony Lacher, who is the appointed Town representative on the Valley Bus Society board, shares ridership was about 1,200 people a month at its height, but has dwindled to less than half in recent years.
Not only did ridership decline, expenses began to increase as the fleet required repairs and potential replacement, and Mr. Lacher says the society came to the decision about two years ago it would need to change its business plan, and that’s when discussions regarding subcontracting operations began.
“We’ll look to the community for continued support-we’re going to be out fundraising and looking for donations, we still have an operation to maintain,” Mr. Lacher says.
Although the Town of Drumheller provides the Valley Bus Society with an annual grant, it is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the organization. The Town offered space on its municipal website to post an Expression of Interest to assist in the search for a subcontractor.
Two tenders were received and, after review, Bubba T’s were chosen as the successful applicants.
Brothers Norm and Tom Fournier, co-owners of Bubba T’s, have lived in the Drumheller Valley for some four decades. They tell the Mail they have seen and heard first hand the need for the Valley Bus service in the community, and say they want to make the transition as smooth as possible for existing Valley Bus riders.
“The goal is to provide the best service possible to the elderly and disabled in the community,” Tom says. “We’re in it for the seniors and handicapped people in the community; we’re not in it to make a million.”
Bubba T’s will use two of its own handicap accessible buses currently in its fleet, and will also lease a third from Valley Bus. Norm and Tom hope they will be able to resume out of town trips, which had been previously discontinued, and aim to keep existing services the same as best as they are able.
Bubba T’s will officially take over service operations and dispatch effective as of Monday, May 1.


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