Strathmore resident wins voucher to fund family vacation

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore resident Wendy Bell is off to plan a vacation for her family, after winning a $2,000 WestJet Voucher from Value Drug Mart. 

According to Strathmore Value Drug Mart Owner, Stacie Morck, the contest took place across Alberta, throughout each of the province’s Value Drug Mart locations. 

“You could come in and earn stamps towards your passport and you would get your name entered into a draw. What Value Drug Mart did was, through their 28 stores, they decided to have this promo,” said Morck. “We were lucky here in Strathmore to have one of the winners here, so Wendy won a $2,000 voucher to go travel.”

Morck added the contest was the first time Value Drug Mart proposed such an idea for the holidays, and following the success of the draw, would like to see its return in future years.

Apparently there are already ideas floating around for other contests that may be run in order to continue encouraging folks to come out and shop in-store. 

“We do a lot of little things … but as I understand for where we are going now is that we are taking it to a new level,” said Morck. “One of the big things that they try to do with Value Drug Marts is involve the community and local families as much as possible, so I think we are going to have a whirlwind of fun in the next few months.”

As for Bell, she said she is excited to travel, as there has not been an opportunity to do so since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Bell and her family were able to sneak in a trip to Disneyland in February 2020, returning to Canada just before strict pandemic measures were put into place. 

“I am feeling excited to travel. We are a family of four, so this definitely helps with planning for a nice family vacation,” said Bell. “When I first got the phone call, I suggested to my husband that we go to New York, but that would be just the two of us, so in reality, we would go on a family vacation.”

Amidst her research and planning for the family’s eventual vacation, Hawaii as a destination has been circulating their thoughts. 

Ultimately, Bell said she would likely take as long as a year to plan her family’s vacation in order to make the most of it, as well as to save for any activities they may want to do while away.