When life gives you lemons it can be easy to focus on the negatives, but one Rockyford family is taking the opportunity to turn a bad situation into something positive.
Village of Rockyford resident Tyler Henke shared on the community’s Facebook group his vehicle had been stolen from his driveway on Thursday, December 16; later the same day, Mr. Henke shared another post that he would like to take the opportunity to turn the situation around.
“I want to use this as an opportunity to show our kids there is more good than bad out there,” the follow-up post says. “We saw so much support today, we want to try and share it with those that need it most.”
The vehicle theft has been scary for Henke’s two children-Emmett, 6, and Parker, 8-and he tells the Mail he wanted to “change the narrative” and use this as an opportunity to show his children there’s more good than bad.
Mr. Henke and his wife Jodi reached out to the Wheatland Food Bank to see what items they are most in need of. Taking to the community Facebook group, Mr. Henke shared he will be collecting unopened boxes of diapers and wipes, or cash and e-transfer donations to purchase these items until Friday, December 31.
“(The kids) don’t really understand money, but they understand a filled cart, and they understand helping out,” Henke tells the Mail.
Since making the post on Thursday, Mr. Henke says the family has already received approximately $775 in cash, e-transfer, and gift card donations, along with donations of unopened boxes of diapers and wipes, and he says he is blown away by the outpouring of support from the community.
While he only expected to collect a couple of hundred dollars to help the food bank, he has set a new goal to donate $1,000. The donations will also be used to help give back to neighbouring communities in Kneehill County, Starland County, and Drumheller.

The Federal Finance Minister provided Parliament with a financial update last week. While the update didn’t surprise Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek, it didn’t impress him either.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released the fall economic statement on Tuesday, December 14. While it showed a better than expected economic rebound, it had more spending.
For Kurek, he saw the update as more of the same.
“When I listen to the economic update and then read through it to get some deep understanding of the impacts of what is being outlined, the way I describe it is just more of the same,” said Kurek. “We had a throne speech just four and a half weeks prior to that. Throne speeches by their nature are less technical, and certainly, the economic update has more technical details, but it really just continued down the same path outlined in the throne speech.”
He said he has been talking to members who have looked deep into the numbers and say either the numbers don’t line up or tell an incomplete story of what the government is suggesting.
“They are taking credit and trying to paint a picture that everything is rosy in our country, and certainly there are some things that are positive. We are seeing some optimism in the energy industry, there are some other sectors that are seeing a boost because of various circumstances, but overall we are seeing a picture they are painting that everything is alright.”
“In real terms, although our economy is growing, our inflation rate is higher than the growth our economy is facing, which is leading to, in real terms, a hit to those who are most vulnerable by these ups and downs. It is reducing the buying power of Canadians and the dollars they have.”
He says there are implications to the costs of everything going up, including housing, which continues to increase.
“What I think is most concerning is instead of some thoughtful corrections with the government’s plan, they seem to be going down the exact same path they have without hardly any acknowledgment of some of the challenges Canadians are facing,” he said.
Another concern he notes is the impacts to Agriculture as well as the energy sector and further lack of accountability.
“I would note one of the things the government seemed quite proud of is they are reporting a slightly smaller deficit in the fiscal year, but when you take into account the inflationary pressures that are pushing up costs, and that create revenue, it seems like by their own admission they are seeing the impact of inflation to their balance books, but refuse to acknowledge the impact on Canadians’ balance books,” he said.