Published in the August 27 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

Help tackle hunger at Esks game

The Edmonton Eskimos will be tackling more than just the Saskatchewan Roughriders at this Saturday’s game.

The team has teamed up with Purolator and the Edmonton Food Bank for the eighth annual Purolator Tackle Hunger food drive, collecting donations to help needy kids as they head back to school.

SCHOOL LUNCH PRODUCTS

“We’re looking to build up school lunch products as we head into the fall, things like juice boxes and snack foods that are helpful for low-income people to have for the kids for lunches,” said Marjorie Bencz, executive director of the Edmonton Food Bank.

“Fall is a very stressful time for families in need, so this event is really critical to us.”

At a media event Thursday, Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray stopped by the food bank to show support for Tackle Hunger.

“It’s a great way to help support your community,” Ray said.

“There’s been some tough times and a lot of people are in need. The more donations we can get, the more people we can help out.”

Donations will be taken at all gates but football fans who donate can also get their picture taken with the Grey Cup at Gate 10 at Commonwealth Stadium.

Fans who help tackle hunger will also be entered to win one of Ray’s jerseys.

Tackle Hunger is one of the food bank’s largest fall food drives.

Bencz said about 40% of the food bank’s clients are school-aged children.

“This is an important event for us as children go back to school,” she said.

Every donation goes directly to the Edmonton Food Bank’s coffers.

‘TO GIVE BACK’

“The community does so much for us,” Ray said. “This is a chance for us to give back to it.”

Since 2003, Tackle Hunger has run each year in cities across Canada and has collected more than three million pounds of food.

This year, Edmonton organizers hope to collect at least 80,000 pounds of food.

Published in the August 26 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

Bring out your diapers!

The Junior League of Edmonton is preparing to launch a giant diaper drive to battle a “diaper need” plaguing cities across North America — including here in Edmonton.

Results released in June from the Every Little Bottom study commissioned by Huggies found that a number of mothers in Canada and the U.S. have had to cut back on basics “like food, utilities or child care in order to afford enough diapers for their children.”

“There are babies in this city who are sitting in wet diapers or mothers who are giving up basic needs such as food and paying bills in order to buy diapers,” said Monita Chapman, diaper drive organizer with Junior League of Edmonton.

Over a 90-day period, the league hopes to collect at least 90,000 disposable diapers to donate to both the Edmonton Food Bank and the Terra Centre for Pregnant and Parenting Teens.

Collection bins will be set up at locations across the city while five major drives are planned from September to November.

“One of the big things is educating the public that Edmonton has a problem,” said Carol McBee, a mother and junior league member.

The league is hoping to finalize dropoff and drive locations in the coming week.

Debbie Theuss with the Edmonton Food Bank said no diaper drive of this scale has ever been done for the food bank before.

She says the bank receives requests from mothers for diapers but is rarely able to fill those requests.

“We try to accommodate but we just can’t always,” Theuss said. “Our priority is food.”

Theuss adds the league’s donation will go a long way in helping local mothers.

“We’re definitely going to benefit,” she said.

While the study reports that most mothers in diaper need are from low-income households, Chapman said the problem affects every mother.

The first local diaper drive is being planned for Sept 22.

An updated list of diaper drive locations will be added to the Junior League of Edmonton website by Sept 1.

Junior Leagues across North America have partnered with Huggies and Food Banks Canada to help put an end to what they’re calling a widespread issue.

For more information visit www.jledmonton.org

(Updated throughout the day with WordPress for iPhone app.)

For August 26 2010

Later went to a media event where the Grey Cup was on display! Below I’m pictured with it and the Food Banks mascot Fill-Up !

At a sod turning ceremony for Habitat for Humanity Edmonton’s largest home build to date !

Met up with friend/colleague/classmate Kathy who was covering it for Metro:

(Updated throughout the day with WordPress for iPhone app.)

For August 25 2010

Lunch from the Vietnamese place downstairs (when I say downstairs I mean on the main floor of the Sun building. Super convenient for lunch). Fills my daily pho craving!

Published in the August 25 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

Reprieve for kindergarten

Jason Scott cheered when he found out the kindergarten program at Riverdale Elementary School had been saved.

“Yahoo,” Scott said with a smile on Tuesday. “I was ecstatic.”

The community member and father of Griffin, 4, who is entering kindergarten this fall, is part of a group of parents who spent the summer working to save the kindergarten class that had been on the chopping block due to low enrolment numbers.

But on Tuesday, Edgar Schmidt, superintendent for Edmonton Public Schools, announced the class wouldn’t be cut as originally planned back in June.

“The community has done an outstanding job of promoting the school and letting people in the community know about what is going on,” Schmidt said.

“The kindergarten program will be offered for this school year.”

Parents at Riverdale school, 8901 101 Ave., spent the summer conducting surveys, putting up posters and speaking at daycares in an effort to ramp up enrolment numbers in the kindergarten program, which had only seven students registered in June.

Through an open house on Monday, the parent group was able to deliver a number of new registration forms to the school principal.

“We’re really happy,” said Mike Evans, president of the Riverdale Parent Advisory Council.

“We appreciate that they recognized the hard work of our community.”

Schmidt said 13 students are currently enrolled in the kindergarten program with one more registration pending.

Evans adds another parent who expressed interest on Monday could bump the total to 15.

Even though the class has been spared for at least this school year, Schmidt said the board would review enrolment numbers again next spring.

But that’s not scaring Riverdale parents.

“We’re going to keep working hard as a community and a parent advisory council to make sure we get the numbers and whatever else the schoolboard decides that we need to make sure the school goes for another 100 years,” Scott said.

For now, kids will head back to class on Sept 1.

But although Riverdale’s program has been saved, two other kindergarten programs in the city weren’t as lucky.

Schmidt said the kindergarten program at Donnan School and the English kindergarten program at Malmo School won’t be operating this coming school year due to low-to-zero enrolment.

Malmo’s Arabic Bilingual kindergarten program is still running.

There are currently 72 students from kindergarten to Grade 6 registered at Riverdale.

Published in the August 25 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

Cops top charity goal

The fuzz have been freed and they made more than $40,000 for charity in the process.

City cops and Special Olympians gathered at the west-end Wal-Mart over the weekend to raise money for Special Olympics Alberta.

“We beat our goal,” said Const. Amanda Trenchard.

Edmonton police Const. Ryan May and Alberta Sheriff Chris Zelko sat on top of a scaffolding platform in front of the store for 54 hours while shoppers were encouraged to help “free the fuzz” through donations.

The Edmonton event had aimed to raise at least $40,000, but the final tally totalled nearly $42,000.

Police displays, raffles and fundraising activities took place around the scaffolding while officers and Special Olympics athletes were on hand to take in donations from shoppers.

Trenchard said the fact that the event took place during a back-to-school shopping weekend really helped in donations.

‘A LOT OF PEOPLE’

“It’s back-to-school time so there was a lot of people in and around the store,” Trenchard said. “It’s a great time for exposure.”

All the money raised from the city event, along with similar events by law enforcement agencies across the province, goes directly to Special Olympics Alberta.

“It’s a big help,” said Jocelyn Plakas-Lock with Special Olympics Alberta.

“We wouldn’t exist without their (law enforcement agencies) support.”

Along with raising money and the Special Olympics profile, Trenchard said Free the Fuzz was a great opportunity for cops to connect with the public.

Published in the August 24 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

Parents rally to save Riverdale kindergarten class

After working all summer to save the kindergarten class from being cut at Riverdale Elementary School this fall, parents are now cautiously breathing a sigh of relief.

“We’ve met the target that they (the school board) set out for us,” said Mike Evans, president of the Riverdale Parent Advisory Council.

Evans handed kindergarten registration forms to the principal at Riverdale, 8620 91 St., at an open house on Monday afternoon.

The Edmonton Public School Board had announced in June it was getting rid of the kindergarten class because of low enrolment numbers.

INCREASE ENROLMENT

But after hundreds of parents and students protested the cut, superintendent Edgar Schmidt said the class could be saved if enrolment numbers rose significantly.

“They asked us for 15 students and we’re going to have that number of registrations for them to process,” Evans said.

“We’re very, very hopeful. We’ve done better than double the enrolment that was here in June.”

The school board was to verify registrations Monday and Schmidt will announce whether the program has been saved on Tuesday.

“They set the target, we met the target. I don’t think they have a lot of room to manoeuvre out of it now,” said hopeful parent Kevin Minaker, whose six-year-old son Aydin was part of the kindergarten program last year.

“We’ re ecstatic ,” said another parent, Jason Scott, whose son Griffin, 4, will be entering the kindergarten program this fall.

“It was a real community effort to get this done.”

‘COMMENDABLE EFFORT’

Cheryl Oxford, managing director of communications for Edmonton Public Schools, congratulated the parent group for their “commendable effort.”

But Oxford could not say for certain on Monday whether the class has yet been saved.

“If enrolment has increased significantly, the superintendent will certainly look at if the kindergarten class can be a go for this year,” she said.

However, Evans is positive that the class will remain and says the kindergarten cut was part of a much bigger problem looming.

Starting this fall, 70 public schools including Riverdale will be up for sector reviews, reviews which could potentially lead to announcements of more school closures.

“If you take the feeder program out of this school, that’s really the life blood that makes it sustainable,” Evans said.

“(Now) in addition to having saved kindergarten, what we intend to do is to advocate not just for our own small school but for small schools everywhere.”

Last year, 74 students were enrolled at Riverdale Elementary School.

Earlier this year five public schools were closed due to low enrolment.

(Updated throughout the day with WordPress for iPhone app.)

For August 24 2010

Riverdale Elementary School’s kindergarten program has been saved! Also my first time today and yesterday visiting the Riverdale community, SUCH a nice place.

Published in the August 21 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

Judge turfs Lucy suit

Lucy the elephant won’t be moving to California any time soon.

A judge has thrown out the case between the city and animal rights groups trying to move the elephant from the Valley Zoo.

“The city is obviously very pleased by today’s ruling,” City of Edmonton lawyer Stephen Phipps said Friday.

“We were confident that our position would prevail.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Zoocheck Canada officially launched a lawsuit against the city in February, saying the 34-year-old Asian elephant was suffering at the Valley Zoo.

The Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta dismissed the case on the basis that “it constituted an abuse of the court’s process.”

Phipps says PETA and Zoocheck did not take the appropriate steps required in a case involving complaints against care of animals and instead tried to “shortcut” the judicial process.

He says a formal complaint and investigation into Lucy’s conditions was not officially made, rather, it was “more of a request that she be removed and moved to California.”

That request was made several years ago and an investigation at that time had concluded that Lucy’s conditions were fine and that moving her would in fact be harmful to her health.

David Perle, senior media co-ordinator for PETA, said he was disappointed with Chief Justice John Rooke’s ruling, saying the judge did not rule on the merits of the case.

“The judge has simply commented on a matter of procedure,” Perle said Friday.

“The judge’s ruling today demonstrates what little legal protection exists for animals who are kept in grossly substandard conditions.”

Perle said PETA will continue to try to get Lucy — who suffers from various respiratory conditions — moved through other forms of legal action, as she “continues to suffer … (as a) result of the substandard conditions at the Valley Zoo.”

But Phipps, zoo officials and a third-party vet maintain that the elephant is well cared for.

“We’re continually striving … to make Lucy’s situation as good as it possibly can be,” said Phipps.

Last year, animal activist and former Price is Right host Bob Barker visited the city in an effort to get Lucy moved.

Actor William Shatner has also been involved in the high-profile case — pleading in a letter to the mayor to let the elephant retire away from the Valley Zoo.

Published in the August 21 2010 issue of The Edmonton Sun. News

24 residents now homeless after north-end apartment fire

Investigators have deemed a north-end apartment building destroyed by fire on Thursday as “not habitable,” leaving at least 24 people homeless.

Fire investigators say Bristal Bay apartments, 13115 69 St., is unliveable after a blaze started in a basement suite of the 15-unit, three-storey building before spreading and destroying all parts of the structure.

“It’s going to be a while before people can get back in,” said Tim Wilson, spokesman for Edmonton Fire Rescue.

“The building is not habitable at this point. There are some repairs that need to happen.”

The Canadian Red Cross is helping 24 people who lived in the apartment building — 15 adults and eight children — who have been unable to re-enter their homes after the fire was extinguished.

“Right now the families are in north-end-area hotels,” said Leila Daoud with Red Cross Alberta.

“We expect some of them will be needing long-term assistance.”

The Red Cross will continue to help tenants with food, water and shelter until Sunday, at which time they will be turned over to other agencies for long-term assistance.

Wilson said it is now up to Bristal Bay’s property owner to let tenants briefly re-enter the building to gather items.

The fire caused around $300,000 in damage, and while it is unclear how long it will take before the building is habitable again, a fire investigator on scene Thursday said it could be months.

The Edmonton Emergency Response Services Soci – ety is also asking for towels, clothes, unopened toiletries, clean furniture and cash donations to help assist in long-term care for the now-homeless tenants.

While only half of the building showed visible damage including melted siding, broken windows and charred walls, investigators say the blaze caused damage throughout the building.

Police have charged an 18-year-old woman with one count of arson with disregard to human life.

Her name has not been released.