Dean and Lois Steel are thankful for gifts that seemingly came to them from heaven even if they actually came from total strangers. Case in point: the free furnace that they received over the Thanksgiving weekend. The home heater was the big prize in a community-based contest called Feel the Love.
“This year the family was chosen because they were deserving of some kindness in the form of a free furnace. This is a family that we were told just always does things for other people, always goes out of their way to give to others, and sometimes puts their needs last,” said Carmal Huppie, co-owner of local furnace installer True North Heating and Cooling.
The Feel the Love contest (formerly called Heat Up) is organized by Lennox furnaces and involves local installers in communities across Alberta and North America. The program offers one furnace in each of dozens of communities each year, with the aim of helping people in need or people who deserve a big thank you, or both.
Dean Steel is the pastor at Cornerstone Pentecostal Church. He and his wife are always giving to others, Huppie continued.
“He works really hard for what he has and he still has the ability to do things for other people and give to other people whether it be in the form of letting people stay with them, driving people around, or inviting people over to their home for dinner. They’re really involved in the community. They’re always giving their time. Even when we went there to review their furnace and look at their house, they were putting baskets of toys for kids together for Christmas.”
For their generosity, generosity came back to them. In addition to the new high efficiency furnace that True North installed for free, they also received furnace, duct, and carpet cleaning courtesy of Kodiak Carpet Care, a free photo session courtesy of Danielle Nicole Photography, auto detailing courtesy of Sargent Shine, and gift cards to grocery stores courtesy of Tempest Fire Protection. As if that all wasn’t enough, they also received a gift card for the Canadian Brewhouse courtesy of last year’s furnace recipient Jess Samchuk.
Food bank challenge nears
The St. Albert Food Bank’s new fundraiser looks to have a full plate of action and prizes when it arrives on Saturday, Oct. 20.The food bank challenge itself will have local business representatives, members of the community and celebrity contestants vying for glory with competitions including eating a plate of wings, hula hooping, answering food bank trivia questions, and taking on the ‘pie face’ device.
For the spectators, there will be a bountiful buffet of door prizes and silent auction items including a diamond necklace, pizza for a year, a prime rib dinner for up to 20, golf passes and furnace cleaning. There will be tickets to an Oilers game, a Gretzky picture, an eight-week dance program, and more, plus 50/50 draws.
The event starts at 6 p.m. at Central Social Hall, 525 St. Albert Trail. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased by visiting fb-challenge.eventbrite.com or by calling the food bank at 780-459-0599.
The most colourful Halloween party ever
Organizers with St. Albert's LGBTQ groups including OutLoud, PFLAG and St. Albert Pride are putting together what will undoubtedly be the most fabulous and fun Halloween party on the last weekend of the month. Where else in the city would you expect to catch a drag show?The DJ'ed party takes place at Central Social Hall, 525 St. Albert Trail and features a costume contest and silent auction as well. It starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26. The drag show portion of the evening is sponsored by the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose. Visit www.outloudstalbert.ca for more information and to purchase tickets for $14.99 each. They must be purchased in advance.
What's even better is that teenagers aged 13 to 17 are welcome until 10 p.m. as well. Their tickets are $9.99 each. Attendees aged 18 and over can stay out as late as they want. Tickets and funds raised help support Outloud St. Albert.
Growing Women’s Health with help from Shoppers
The Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation is getting shoppers to support women’s postnatal health initiatives through its Growing Women’s Health campaign at Shoppers Drug Mart.“Our foundation relies heavily on donations from our community to provide women with the support and resources they need to better their health,” said Katrina Black, the executive director of the SCHF. “Through the Shoppers Drug Mart Growing Women’s Health fundraising campaign, members of the St. Albert and area community can make a big difference in the lives of women by making donations both big and small.”
People can offer donations of various levels to support the program. The four-week campaign has raised more than $35 million for Canadian health charities since 2002. This year, more than 500 women’s health charities across the country will benefit from the Growing Women’s Health fundraising campaign with 100 per cent of funds staying in the community where they are raised. The program runs until Friday, Nov. 2.
