Wheatland Lodge supported by community donations

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland Lodge is providing residents with some extra comforts while the facility is in “preventative quarantine” thanks to donations made by the Strathmore community.
The seniors living facility received $2,000 from the Strathmore Lions Club, $500 from Strathmore FCSS and $1,000 from an anonymous private donor.
The donation from the Strathmore Lions Club was presented by Art Eeles, lodge resident and longtime club member.
The funds are being used to help the facility adjust to the threat and frustrations posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lodge has purchased new off-site surgical masks because its regular supply was unavailable, as well as new tables to ensure distancing between residents, said chief administration officer Vickey Cook.
The donations are also being used to provide some “extras for residents,” including coffee and doughnuts, and even an Amazon Alexa device for residents to “play with,” said Cook. The lodge also provided “some extra special stuff” for Easter, added Cook.
“I would really like to acknowledge those wonderful donations that were made,” she said.
Despite being in preventative quarantine for just over four weeks, residents are “safe and well,” said Cook, with no reported cases of COVID-19 at the facility.
“Although it is challenging at times for residents to be isolated from their families and outside activity, residents and staff continue to be positive and support one another,” said Cook.
The lodge has implemented new safety measures, as directed by Alberta Health Services.
“Protocols have been put in place, and we experience daily changes and additions to them,” said Cook.
To beat the doldrums of staying inside, the lodge has started an initiative where residents get a local tour from the comfort and safety of the lodge’s activity bus, said Cook.
The tours are “perfectly safe,” as the “bus is quarantined just like our lodge,” said Cook. “The residents will not exit the bus at any time.
“People might see us out and about,” she added. “We take four people at a time, and they just go for a drive – it’s just a little tour around town.
“It really seems to lift their spirits to go out and have a look around.”