It was Charlene Cardinal's day at St. Albert's Superstore last Friday when she stopped by to pick up a cheque for $20,000.
"I'm very happy. I'm so grateful," she remarked, musing that she used to work at the Superstore location. She couldn't understand why she was getting so many calls from the store. Her friends teased her about it. "Maybe they want you to do a shift," she thought, with a chuckle.
The cheque was indeed a surprise, a tidy little gift from the store's President's Choice Children's Charity fund. Twice a year, the store collects money from customers and then turns it around to help improve the lives of local children. Cardinal was there with her two four-year-old twin daughters, Brooklyn and Natasha.
They were born with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare condition that affects multiple pregnancies where the fetuses share membranes, including the placenta. This has left Natasha with a brain deformity and the inability to walk.
Having a child in a wheelchair makes for some great challenges in transportation, especially when you consider that Cardinal has three other children at home too.
"It's the biggest challenge. It's so difficult to transport her anywhere. I don't even like going anywhere. This vehicle is going to allow us just so much more freedom." She estimated that getting her daughter into her current vehicle takes about 30 minutes. Getting out is about the same amount of time.
This money will get her about halfway towards acquiring a low-end wheelchair van. Cardinal can't wait.
Angela Halabi, the store's financial supervisor, is thrilled that the money will be going to such good use.
"It's a very happy occasion for us. We want to be able to give disadvantaged children help to enrich their lives."
Mayor's Walk walks in other park
Today marks the occasion of the 13th annual Roy Financial Mayor's Walk. As the massive charity fundraiser hits its teenage years, it seems that it's about to go through some changes.
The first bit of growing pains that it's experiencing is … parking.
"It's just for crowd reasons," explained Heather McKinnon, the event's co-ordinator. "The Farmers' Market opens at the same time as the Mayor's Walk. It gets pretty tight for crowds and for parking and all that kind of stuff, so we just decided to go with a different location."
This year's Mayor's Walk is relocating to the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association Clubhouse located at 215 Sturgeon Road. It kicks off at 9:30 a.m. this morning with registration at 8. It's expected that there will be approximately 400 people on the trails, supporting their favourite charities of choice.
McKinnon said that the next step on the road to maturity is to finally hit a magical milestone that they've been trying to reach for so long.
"We always shoot for $150,000 and we shoot really high. One year we're going to make that goal."
There are 30 charities on the billet this year, including some perennial favourites like the St. Albert Botanic Park (located just next door on the scenic road). There are also some new names to consider including the Building Hope Compassion Association, an Edmonton-based organization that works for seniors, families and the homeless, operating a drop-in centre, community lunch program, food bank and other services.
To get the full listing, visit www.royfinancialmayorswalk.com.
