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Scissors will be blazing at Cuts 4 Cancer Wednesday

    This year’s Cuts 4 Cancer at the Chop Shop is coming up on February 3, and even though a number of supportive residents are going all out for the day collecting pledges, organizers stress you don’t have to go bald to give to the cause.
    Cuts 4 Cancer has given thousands of dollars to the Drumheller Area Health Foundation to support cancer patients. This year they are aiming at raising $20,000 at the one-day event.
    Tracy Gendron says the driver of the event is for people to come to the Chop Shop on Wednesday, February 3 and simply get a haircut anytime between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The funds from these haircuts will to go to the Drumheller Area Health Foundation to support a fund they keep to support those with cancer and their families to help them cope financially during their battle. Families can apply, for example, if their loved one is undergoing cancer treatment out of town and they are in need of support for some eligible expenses incurred.
    While the bread and butter of the event is donating the funds a person would usually pay for a haircut, there are some notable exceptions. This year, organizer Cathy Morse’s husband Rod is going under the razor, and is collecting pledges.
    Gendron says while the pace of pledges is brisk, they expect a flurry of activity come the day of the events.
    “It is going to be quite a surprise because we said the highest bidder will get the first swipe (at Rod) with the clippers, so I am thinking when he comes in there is going to be a full shop and maybe a bidding war,” laughs Gendron.
    Another to look out for, says Gendron, is Walter Albrecht. The regular Passion Play volunteer player participated last year, and it looks like he is on track to bring a substantial contribution to the event.
    "He has come in for probably 10 pledge sheets already,” says Gendron.
    This year they are also hosting a raffle to raise funds for the cause. A Chop Shop supplier has donated almost $1,000 worth of product, and they are selling tickets on three different prize packages.
    The Cuts 4 Cancer has become a tradition in the valley started by Cathy Morse in memory of her mother who passed away after a battle with cancer. Funds from previous events have gone to the Palliative Care Unit’s Bariatric room, and lounge at the Drumheller Health Centre, as well as the cancer unit.

WLD Legacy Fund supports Food Bank

    The Drumheller Salvation Army is the latest community group that has benefitted from the World’s Largest Dinosaur.
    The Worlds Largest Dinosaur Legacy Fund invests a portion of the funds generated by visitation to the World’s Largest Dinosaur and the gift shop to community economic development initiatives in the region.
    The fund provided $2,000 worth of materials to upgrade the Drumheller Salvation Army Food Bank.
    “With the Chamber’s donation, we were able to make the food bank more organized, efficient, and safer,” said Lt. Rachel Sheils of the Drumheller Salvation Army.
    Upgrades to the Food Bank include an upright freezer. While they did not replace any shelves, they have been enhanced with bins that increase the storage. Rather than just being able to stack cans, they can fill the whole shelf area with food. This system allows them to better date sort the food, thus reducing spoilage.
    The change has allowed the Food Bank to condense the complete operation from three rooms to just two and also has made it more efficient for volunteers to fill hampers.
    “For our volunteers, it means they have a better work environment. If we can keep our volunteers happy, we can also serve the community better,” said Sheils. “For those who make donations to The Salvation Army, we want to make sure that nothing expires on our shelves. When we receive a donation, we category sort them and date sort them, and this set up allows us to make sure we are good stewards of what donations we receive.”
    The improvements also include hand sanitizer stations, and every item for the improvement is portable, so if the Church decided to move its Food Bank operation, this investment would not be lost.
    President of the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce, Cindy Clark said The Salvation Army’s application to the Legacy Fund outlined the need for the improvements.
    “We saw pictures of what it looked like before and how they desperately needed some equipment to make it better,” said Clark, “We were glad the Legacy Fund offered us the opportunity to do that.”
    The Chamber of Commerce wants to be the voice for business in the community, but that also means we help out those less fortunate in the community.”
    The Legacy Fund has paid out $60,000 since its inception, with 11 community groups receiving support for a variety of worthy projects.

Grant application submitted for John Anderson diamond replacement

    As construction work is underway for the Badlands Community Facility, and with the John Anderson Park diamond no longer useable, a location for its replacement is now being looked into and rebuilding the diamond situated in Rosedale has been proposed.
    With this in mind, the Town of Drumheller recently applied for a grant via the Municipal Sponsorship Program.
    If approved, the grant would be for $73,791. With capital cost estimated at $347,629 and expected inkind contributions of $137,717, an additional funding of $136,121 will remain to be found.
    The project is therefore expected to be completed in phases, with further grants being obtained in 2010 and 2011.
    Originally, the town had proposed for a replacement diamond to be created at the Newcastle Recreation area, however, Al Kendrick, director of Infrastructure Services explains, “the Rosedale diamond is not in the best condition now, we have done some work with it, it’s difficult to get people to use it...because of the condition it is in.”
    Kendrick also attributes the lack of use due to children getting involved into different activities nowadays, such as soccer.
    He also believes the implicatons from council is that they want to have recreation facilities serving the easterly portion of the community as well as the west side of town.

With the community hall and skating rink in close proximity to the diamond together with green areas and closeby campground, it is hoped that rebuilding the diamond may draw people to use it more.

    Although a new diamond at Newcastle Recreation Park is still an option and once the funding is secured, the logistics will be looked at again.
    Kendrick is hoping to hear about the funding by the end of March, but warns the funding process can take longer so it may be that work will need to wait until the fall to begin in order not to disturb it during the season when it will be utilized.
    If the funding doesn’t come through, Kendrick confirmed the diamond will be maintained as is.

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