The Drumheller and area community showed its support for Stuff the Bus to aid families struggling while heading back to school.
The annual Food Drive at Freson Bros. was held on Tuesday, August 20. Amanda Courtenay, Community and Family Services and Anti-Violence Coordinator for The Salvation Army tells the Mail they were able to bring in 775 pounds of food. On site, they also had a kettle and monetary donations came in at $2,821.
“Without the generosity of this community, the food bank would not be here to help support those in need. Thank you to everyone who has donated in the past and who will in the future,” said Courtenay.
She notes this doesn’t include the funds raised through the barbecue which was about $600.
The Annual Stuff the Bus Food Drive is an important campaign for The Salvation Army Food Bank as families prepare for a return to school. This is the time they are in need of items to fill bagged lunches and snacks.
“As parents start sending their kids back to school this week and next, it is important for the food bank to have the items needed to help them with school lunches and snacks that provide the energy needed for students to do their very best this school year,” said Courtenay.

The Drumheller Filipino Association had the honour this summer of hosting the Consul Gen Emma Sarne of the Philippine Embassy.
President of the Drumheller Filipino Association Heidi Galleon tells the Mail on August 15, Consul Gen Emma Sarne was planning a trip through Drumheller with her husband. The Association quickly put together a reception and hosted her.
Consul Gen Emma Sarne works out of Calgary, one of four Philippine Foreign Service Offices in Canada. It provides services to Filipinos in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“This office provides many services such as civil registration, legal documents, passports, citizenship, travel documents and social services.
“She also promoted the registration of nurses,” said Galleon noting there is a program where the process of recognizing the credentials of foreign-trained nurses has been streamlined in Alberta.
There is also support for foreign workers as well as promoting trade and tourism.
“It was short notice when we were told they were going to come visit the museum. So we took advantage of the situation and invited her to have dinner with us and meet some community members.
She also invited members of the community from Hanna and Strathmore for the reception.
Sarne is new to this post, starting in June of this year. Before this post, she served as Minister and Consul General of the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh Cambodia.
Accrdong to her bio, she was posted at the Philippine Embassy in London, United Kingdom from 2012 to 2018, and served as the Alternate Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the International Maritime Organization in London during that period.
She was first posted to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2004 to 2010 where she handled the Sixth Committee (Legal Committee) and Philippine initiatives in the UN General Assembly such as the resolutions on Oceans, Fisheries, and Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development. She was also the Alternate Permanent Representative of the Philippines during its term at the UN Security Council from 2004 to 2005.