Overnight Shelter receives $1,000 donation from Value Drug Mart

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore’s Value Drug Mart made a $1,000 donation to the Strathmore Overnight Shelter through their annual program designed to give back to nonprofits within the local community.

The idea is while customers make purchases during the operational period of the program, they can nominate a local not-for-profit to win the donation. 

“The Overnight Shelter (is) doing really important work, so I feel really good about giving (the money) to them. We try and do it every year – find a community organization that is deserving of some support,” said Gordon Morck, owner of the Strathmore Value Drug Mart. 

Nominations for a local not-for-profit to support were being collected throughout November and December. This is the third time Value Drug Mart has operated the program. 

Morck explained the idea of getting it started was simply to promote community involvement and supporting worthwhile causes. 

“They do such good work here at the Overnight Shelter. It is a definite need in Strathmore and they are filling a gap in the system and so they are very deserving for all of the good work they do here,” he said. 

The shelter appreciates the donation.

“Our utilities alone are over $3,000 a month, never mind our mortgage. So, we do 60 to 80 loads of laundry a week, plus showers. We got a grant that we were able to open 24/7 from November until April, but that increases all of our bills,” added Elizabeth Karp, executive director of the Overnight Shelter. 

She explained the shelter typically feeds between 20 and 30 people every day. Those who the shelter supports are not only the folks who drop in to have a roof over their head at night, but also people who are living at large and stop by for a meal.

Amounts of food served aside, garbage pickup has increased, utility bills and other expenses have been on the rise since being open all day, but they are expenses that must be managed in order to maintain support of Strathmore’s most vulnerable population.

Karp emphasized the importance of the shelter particularly through the winter months, as temperatures may drop into the realm of -40 degrees Celsius. In conditions such as those, people who remain outside overnight are extremely vulnerable to freezing to death. 

“There was a fellow who froze to death outside. He could not make it in, he was in Wheatland County,” said Karp. “The whole purpose when I opened the shelter was because there were fatalities.

“The phone gets really busy, and to be honest, all the shelters get full, so people call from not just Strathmore, but from Chestermere, Drumheller, Brooks, all those areas. Our goal is not to bring more homeless into Strathmore, but the other things that we are able to do is, we have had quite a good success rate in putting people into rehabilitation programs and detox as well,” she said. 

The overnight shelter is in consistent need of volunteers, particularly from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. to help with serving meals. For first timers, Karp runs an orientation to get people introduced to the Shelter’s systems. 

Additionally, physical and monetary donations of any kind are always welcome. More information about how to support the shelter, as well as their supply lists are able to be found online through their website.